A man who killed the person he suspected of being his wife’s boyfriend, has pleaded guilty to murder and asked for forgiveness, saying he had lost control after finding the two at a lodge.
“I know I have taken someone’s life and I’m sorry”, said murder accused Abednigo Mbuyane at the Mpumalanga high court in Mbombela on Tuesday, where he is on trial.
Mbuyane, 39, is accused of fatally shooting Thamsanca Nkosi, 34, in April 2023. Mabuyane and Nkosi were traffic officers. Nkosi worked for the Mpumalanga provincial traffic department, while Mbuyane was employed by the Mbombela local municipality.
In his testimony today, 39-year-old Mbuyane said he had called his wife, who told him that she was at a mall. However, he became suspicious because it was quiet in the background, and when he questioned her, she told him she was in a toilet.
“When I called again, she was not as romantic as she used to be on the phone and was still at the quiet place,” Mbuyane said. “I then tracked my car, which she was driving, and went to Kwanyoni Lodge, where I saw my car parked at room one.
“I phoned and I heard the phone ringing. I stood at the door and knocked. She said she was coming, but she didn’t open. That’s when I broke the door and went inside. I found her with the deceased [Nkosi], who stopped me before I could confront my wife.
“That’s when we fought, and when I felt overpowered, I withdrew my firearm and shot him twice,” Mbuyane said.
Mbuyane’s wife told the court her husband had earlier found an SMS on her phone and forced her to call the person and tell him that she was married.
Judge Johannes Roloefse questioned Mbuyane on the fatal second bullet during the scuffle between him and Nkosi after he [Mbuyane] told the court that the shooting happened fast while they were both fighting.
“The second shot which killed the deceased — where was he, and where were you standing when you fired it?” asked Roloefse.
Mbuyane said they were both standing. However, Roelofse pointed to postmortem results, which revealed that Nkosi was lying down when the bullet hit him in the face.
Mbuyane agreed, and said that when he fired the fatal shot, Nkosi was falling from the first one.
Mbuyane has been denied bail three times since his arrest in April 2023 and has been in custody since.
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