Africa-Press – South-Africa. A Mpumalanga man has been sentenced to 18 years behind bars after he broke into his girlfriend’s house and killed her on 24 February last year – his 42nd birthday.
Celumusa Dube was convicted and sentenced in the Mpumalanga High Court this week.
The court found that he stabbed his girlfriend several times after he found her with his brother.
“He carried out the assault upon the deceased with a knife while knowing that an assault with a knife may cause the deceased’s death. Despite this knowledge, Mr Dube continued with the assault,” the court said.
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During the trial in April, Dube was the only witness to testify in his defence. His brother, Njabulo Shongwe, testified as a State witness.
In a statement to the court, Dube said he was celebrating his birthday at a local tavern when he received a call from his brother.
Dube decided to invite Shongwe to join him at the tavern, but Shongwe never arrived.
Dube later went to his girlfriend’s home and according to the judgment, things took a turn when he heard voices inside the house.
The statement continued:
Dube knocked on the door and there was no response.
He became aggressive, broke into the house and found his brother with his girlfriend.
Dube claimed that his girlfriend had a knife, but that he took it from her.
He said when the girlfriend apologised for being with his brother, he was “so angry, I stabbed her several times with that knife. I was under the influence of alcohol but not to the extent that I didn’t know what I was doing and could not act accordingly. I also knew that when one stabs a person with a knife several times that that person could sustain serious injuries or even die as a result of such injuries”, according to the judgment.
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Meanwhile, Shongwe testified that he did not know the woman was Dube’s girlfriend. He said he was with the woman in the house when he heard the neighbours’ dogs barking and a few minutes later, Dube broke into the house.
Shongwe said Dube took a knife from his pocket and stabbed the woman several times.
The High Court found that Dube broke into the woman’s house to cause her bodily harm.
The court found:
Dube was found guilty of housebreaking with the intention to commit assault and murder. He was sentenced on Wednesday.
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