Durban — A man alleged to have stabbed his former girlfriend – who had a protection order in place against him – 25 times has been arrested while at a traditional healer’s home in the Eastern Cape after fleeing KwaZulu-Natal following the alleged murder.
Information that the Daily News has is that the 43-year-old who allegedly killed Zama Girlie Mthembu was arrested by Greenwood Park police midway through a ritual where he was topless with the murder weapon in his possession.
Mlamuli Micheal Qaba appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Monday charged with premeditated murder. His matter was adjourned to later this month for a formal bail application. He was remanded to the Greenwood Park police station as bail investigations are to take place.
Qaba is alleged to have slain Mthembu in Kenville on the Day of Reconciliation and fled to another province after the alleged offence.
It is alleged Qaba went to Mthembu’s residence in Kenville and confronted her about the protection order she had obtained against him. The pair got into an argument and he left.
It’s alleged that he returned a short while later and found Mthembu at her neighbour’s next-door room, which was when Mthembu was stabbed about 25 times in her upper body.
The accused was arrested after police investigations led to where he had fled. It’s alleged that the murder weapon was also recovered when he was arrested.
He is alleged to have begun stabbing Mthembu in front of a witness who went to get help.
In a telephone conversation with the Daily News, Mthembu’s brother, Tariq Mthembu, applauded the police for locating the accused.
“As a family, we are grateful for the work the police have done. We also hope that this is carried through after the trial has been heard and he is sentenced. We hope that the magistrate also plays (his/her) role and convicts him handing him a lengthy sentence.
“Even though one day he will be eligible for parole he would have done some time and experienced the hardships of jail.
“His experiencing jail time will play a vital role in our healing process and will give us some sort of closure, that will satisfy us as a family.”
Tariq said that what the work police had done in securing the arrest had dispelled the widespread notion that the SAPS don’t perform to the satisfaction of the public.
“The investigating officer and his team make me confidently say that this notion is not true; the work they have done has shown me that they took the case seriously and took our pain of the loss we suffered and made it their own and did not rest until he was found.
“We are so grateful, and wherever my sister is now her soul will rest in peace now. I know that eventually we have to die; the time comes for each one of us to die but my sister’s life was brutally taken away.”
Lindokuhle Ndlovu, who worked with Mthembu at Gorimas Spices in Springfield and was at court, described her friend as a people person.
“I started working in 2022 with Zama; she loved and cared for people. She was a determined person who loved her work.”
She said Mthembu had two children, both boys, adding that these children were not Qaba’s.
She said Mthembu’s homestead was in Empangeni and that was where her funeral was held.
“I found out about her murder on the 17th, the day after her murder. She was stabbed in front of a young child who was there at her friend’s place,” said Ndlovu.
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