Woman murdered for her 'millions'

A 39-year-old Bulawayo woman was jailed for 25 years on Friday over the murder of Thulisile Dube, who vanished after a night out with friends before being found dead in an abandoned car in August last year.

Musawenkosi Hara denied murder but was convicted after a full trial at the Bulawayo High Court.

Hara wore a blank stare and appeared not bothered as Justice Christopher Dube-Banda handed down the 25-year jail sentence.

Dube's family welcomed the sentence.

Farai Michael Mutasa, who allegedly strangled Dube, 36, in the backseat of a car, committed suicide days after the brutal murder.

The court heard that Hara and Mutasa believed that Dube, who lived in South Africa and was visiting family in Bulawayo, had up to R2 million from an undisclosed deal she concluded in the neighbouring country. Dube had allegedly intimated to Hara about her financial windfall, and Hara in turn informed her boyfriend Mutasa.

The duo joined Dube and three other friends on a drinking bender at several nightclubs on August 20, ending at Stunts in the city centre at around 4AM the next day.

Dube took the wheel as they dropped off their friends in Nkulumane, Luveve and Cowdray Park before remaining in the car with Hara and Mutasa.

In her defence, Hara sought to blame the murder on Mutasa, insisting she took no part. In testimony which the judge said was "not consistent and contained poor evidence," Hara claimed that sometime after leaving the last of their friends, Dube stopped the car to relieve herself and Mutasa followed her out of the car.

Hara said Mutasa picked up a stone and hit Dube on the head but she did not die. She said the scuffle was quickly resolved and they continued driving towards the Cowdray Park railway line where Mutasa, who was now driving, parked the vehicle and jumped onto the back seat where he strangled Dube.

The two love birds then drove off with Dube's corpse and refuelled the vehicle at Luveve. They later dumped the car, which was owned by Dube's brother, in Emganwini suburb before using public transport back to the city centre where they continued their drinking spree.

The court heard that at around 9AM, the duo visited a friend where they spent the day drinking. They left at 4PM but forgot some items they had stolen from Dube, including a satchel which had some personal items. Her family later positively identified the bag.

Hara and Mutasa, the court heard, proceeded to sell Dube's Samsung S20 phone, with Hara showing her ID to the buyer. They used the money to finance their binge drinking.

Hara was arrested for an unrelated offence on August 22 and released on August 23. She fled to Harare.

When police discovered Dube's body on August 23, Mutasa took his life after recording a suicide voice note for his young sister admitting to his role in the murder.

The court heard that if Dube had the large amount of cash her killers believed she had, she was not carrying it on their night out.

Dube's aunt spoke to reporters outside court.

"I'm content with the sentence but we are left with a big void, nothing can replace life," she said.

She revealed that Mutasa's family had reached out and paid them 14 cows, adding: "Hara's family haven't genuinely engaged us, they just hijacked the Mutasa apology and want to make it a combined one."

Hara was represented by Tanaka Rungana of Tanaka Law Chambers.