Update on Gwabalanda murder, suicide

A Bulawayo man allegedly stabbed his wife nine times leading to her death before drinking poison and hanging himself.

The man killed his wife on Wednesday night and his body was found hanging from a tree in Gwabalanda suburb yesterday morning by children who were going to school.

Gellot Ncube, an intercity commuter omnibus driver allegedly committed the gruesome murder after Nomqhele Nkiwane, 28, his wife of two years reportedly left him because he habitually cheated on her.

The couple left behind a two-year-old daughter. Ncube reportedly told a friend on the fateful day that he would kill his daughter first.

He is said to have failed to locate her when he went on to kill his wife.

Nkiwane' s sister, Sibongile, told police that he left her some money, saying some of it should be given to his parents and the rest should be used for his burial, minutes after killing his wife.

Sources close to the couple said Ncube left her matrimonial home last month after she caught her husband with a girlfriend.

"At the time he plied the Bulawayo-Harare route. He told her he was going on a trip and she saw him a day later, having a good time with a girlfriend. It was not the first time. She went home, collected her clothes and went back to her parents," said the source.

Ncube reportedly pleaded with her to return and last week, started sending her threatening Whatsup messages.

"In one of the messages, he told her she would die and leave her daughter motherless. In another, he told her that he was watching her every move and was always behind her when she knocked off from work, although she never saw him," said a family source.

"On Wednesday, he sent her a message saying he needed Nomqhele to assist him to fill in some forms. She told him to bring them. They met in her best friend's car near the Amakhosi Football Pitch turn off, less than 500m from her parents' house."

The source said Ncube sat in the car behind his wife who was in the passenger seat. "He grabbed the seat belt and started strangling her with it.

Her friend ran out of the car and screaming. By the time other people came top assist, Ncube had stabbed her all over her face, neck and chest. He sprang from the car, still gripping the bloody okapi knife that he had used and everyone watched helplessly as he jumped into his Sprinter kombi and sped off," said a witness.

Nkiwane died within 30 minutes of arriving at Mpilo Central Hospital.

Residents organised a manhunt for Nkiwane but he could not be located.

"He was found hanging from a tree by Children who were going to Fusi Primary School early this morning. He had blood on his T-shirt and jeans," said his uncle, Gorden Moyo, 48.

A newscrew visited the scene where a crowd had gathered. Police searched Ncube's body and recovered the bloody okapi.

There was also a green substance in a two litre container that looked like engine cleaner mixed with another substance. It is suspected Ncube drank the substance before hanging himself.

Nkosilathi Nkiwane, 39, Nomqhele's brother said she left her husband over infidelity.

"She said she had had enough and did not want to expose herself to the risk of catching HIV. We are yet to see Ncube's family and it is not our place to look for them," said Nkiwane.

A tout who once worked with Ncube said he was a violent ingrate.

"Imagine, this girl had a degree in accounting and she developed him from being a mere tout by paying for his driving lessons. He went on to cheat on her. He used to do the same thin with his previous live-in girlfriend, Na Busi, with whom he has a three-year-old daughter. One day he poured petrol on Nabusi and attempted to set her alight after she caught him cheating," said the tout.