Durban — The pre-trial for the SANDF reservist charged with the murder of his wife will be heard in September.
Lwanda Mxolisi Zungu made his first appearance in the Pinetown Regional Court on Tuesday where the date for his pre-trial conference was set before the trial goes ahead.
Zungu's matter had previously been in the District Court before being transferred in June to the Regional Court.
He is accused of shooting and killing his wife Tania Msane Zungu, once in the head, four times in the neck, and once in her body in their Pinetown home while his two boy children, aged 11 and 15, as well as their grandmother, Gwen Msane, were in the house.
After that, he ran away and handed himself over to the police two days after the shooting.
Msane-Zungu, who was killed in January, was shot six times and had bullet wounds to her chest and neck.
Zungu is charged with murder read under the Domestic Violence Act which the State alleges was premeditated.
Zungu had previously abandoned bail but then at his last appearance in March made an about-turn indicating that he wanted to apply for bail.
The couple are said to have been married for more than 10 years and renewed their vows last year.
It’s alleged that Zungu found out that Msane-Zungu was cheating on him with someone close to him and that might have been one of the reasons he decided to kill her.
He is currently in custody after having been refused bail last month.
During his bail application chilling details of the shooting were revealed by the investigating officer.
The officer said in his bail affidavit that the mother-in-law noticed that the accused was not doing the same routine as every morning before leaving for work.
That fateful morning they heard the victim scream, “Mom, Mom Lwanda is hitting me.”
When they got to the bedroom and walked in he was standing on the bed and began firing several shots at her while she was lying on the bed.
The family fled and went to a neighbour. When they went outside again another neighbour told them the accused had walked down the road with blood on his clothes.
WhatsApp your views on this story to 071 485 7995.
Daily News