Knife crime gives Matabeleland bad name: judge

A JUDGE said Tuesday that knife crime in Matabeleland had become a "cause for concern" as a man was jailed for 15 years over a fatal stabbing.

"The alarming trend of youths from the Matabeleland region moving around armed with knives and using them at the slightest provocation is becoming a cause for concern," Justice Nicholas Ndou said at the Bulawayo High Court.

"This trend has now earned the region a bad name."

The judge made the comments as he sent away Sydney Moyo, 23, for 15 years over the fatal stabbing of Cabangani Ntini, 20, at a bar in the Madlambuzi area of Bulilima district, Matabeleland South.

Timothy Makoni, prosecuting, told the court that that Moyo had been on a drinking bender starting at 10AM on February 10 this year when he was involved in a bar brawl with Ntini just after 4PM.

In the commotion, Moyo drew a knife and stabbed Ntini just above the left collarbone. The knife perforated Ntini's left lung and he died on the spot.

Moyo's lawyer, Nozipho Dube, had pleaded with the court for a maximum sentence of six years due to his intoxicated state at the time, and a further two-year credit for good behaviour.

But Justice Ndou said evidence showed Moyo was only "moderately drunk"and had used "severe force to inflict the wound in an area of the body where there are vital organs".