News / Africa
Zim man jailed for panga killing in South Africa
29 Mar 2012 at 12:02hrs | Views
Pretoria - A Zimbabwean man was on Tuesday jailed for eight years for killing his wife with a panga after she infected him with HIV and admitted to being a prostitute.
The High Court in Pretoria sentenced Cinnias Dhlawayo, 39, after he earlier pleaded guilty to murdering his customary wife, Zondiwe Gomba, at Bapsfontein settlement in December 2009.
Dhlawayo came to South Africa in 2007 with his wife to look for work, leaving their two children and a child from a previous relationship in their grandparents' care. He worked for a technology company at the time.
In a statement he said their marital problems started months before when he discovered his wife was having an extra-marital affair, but she denied it. When he phoned her lover, the man threatened to kill him.
He became ill and discovered he was HIV-positive when his wife went to Zimbabwe to visit her parents, which shocked him as he was faithful to her. When his wife returned, she was clearly not surprised that he'd tested positive for HIV.
In November that year she went to live with her sister. When he visited her in December, he caught another man coming out of her sister's shack, fastening his belt.
When he confronted his wife, an argument ensued and she told him other men were paying her for sex. He became angry, went to fetch his panga and started hacking her. She tried to run away, but he chased and killed her.
Dhlawayo said he had tried to commit suicide three times after the murder. Eventually he handed himself to the police.
Judge Cynthia Pretorius said he had not shied away from his deeds and expressed genuine remorse. It was mitigating that he was a first offender with young children, and that his wife had infected him with the HI-Virus.
She ordered that his one year in jail while awaiting trial should be deducted from his sentence when calculating his release date.
The High Court in Pretoria sentenced Cinnias Dhlawayo, 39, after he earlier pleaded guilty to murdering his customary wife, Zondiwe Gomba, at Bapsfontein settlement in December 2009.
Dhlawayo came to South Africa in 2007 with his wife to look for work, leaving their two children and a child from a previous relationship in their grandparents' care. He worked for a technology company at the time.
In a statement he said their marital problems started months before when he discovered his wife was having an extra-marital affair, but she denied it. When he phoned her lover, the man threatened to kill him.
He became ill and discovered he was HIV-positive when his wife went to Zimbabwe to visit her parents, which shocked him as he was faithful to her. When his wife returned, she was clearly not surprised that he'd tested positive for HIV.
When he confronted his wife, an argument ensued and she told him other men were paying her for sex. He became angry, went to fetch his panga and started hacking her. She tried to run away, but he chased and killed her.
Dhlawayo said he had tried to commit suicide three times after the murder. Eventually he handed himself to the police.
Judge Cynthia Pretorius said he had not shied away from his deeds and expressed genuine remorse. It was mitigating that he was a first offender with young children, and that his wife had infected him with the HI-Virus.
She ordered that his one year in jail while awaiting trial should be deducted from his sentence when calculating his release date.
Source - Sapa
