Grandson in grandmother’s decapitation case found guilty

THE Durban High Court on Thursday (July 16) found Thabo Ntokozo Theodore Nzimande guilty of the 2024 murder of his grandmother in Pinetown.

Handing down judgment, Acting Judge Mpumelelo Sibisi said Nzimande’s defence was not reasonably or possibly true and therefore rejected it.

The judge also said there was no indication that Nzimande lacked criminal capacity, and had acted voluntarily.

Sibisi said Nzimande’s denial that he does not know what had transpired at the granny flat he shared with his grandmother and what had happened to the deceased “is a lie”.

The judge said the evidence presented in the case pointed to Nzimande’s guilt.

Sibisi added that Nzimande had shown a “selective amnesia” when responding to some “crucial questions”.

Nzimande killed his grandmother Beata Beatrice de Lange on June 7, 2024.

Nzimande had pleaded not guilty to the murder of his 80-year-old grandmother.

Also read: Police investigate Pinetown deadly shooting

The court also heard testimony from Nzimande’s uncle, John Ngcobo, that a once good relationship between the accused and the deceased had soured towards the end.

The court also heard testimony of an argument between Nzimande and his grandmother in the week leading up to the murder.

The court heard from Ngcobo that Nzimande, on the night of the murder, had allegedly waved De Lange’s head in front of his uncle through a closed glass sliding door, and had allegedly said that he “had to do it”.

Past testimony before the court also came from State witness, Constable Nobuhle Stephanie C