'Release me so that I can bury my wife.'

Dramatic scenes unfolded at the Thohoyandou magistrate court when celebrity comedian Livhuwani Madadzhe, better known as SABC Livhu, burst out in tears and pleaded with the court to grant him bail so that he can go and bury his wife.

Madadzhe appeared in court this morning on a charge that he had murdered his wife, Lindelani Nengovhela, the past weekend.

Lindelani’s body was found in a ditch outside the couple’s home at Mangodi Sidou on Saturday morning (28 January). Her death came just a day after she dropped the charges of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm that she had laid against her husband in October 2022.

A party was allegedly held at the couple’s home to celebrate the withdrawal of the charges. It is alleged that Lindelani was killed after the celebrations and her body dumped in a water-filled ditch outside their house.

Circumstances leading to her death are still sketchy and police remained mum on how they link Madadzhe to the murder.

During his appearance on Monday (30^th), the Thohoyandou magistrate court experienced the one of the largest crowds ever seen during an appearance. The inside of the court as well as the court premises was filled to capacity. Police had to clear the gallery for relatives and gender activist organisations.

Not to be left out were political organisations like the DA, ANC and EFF who seized the opportunity to express their disapproval of gender-based violence.

In the dock, a visibly troubled Madadzhe was a lone figure who looked lost when his rights were read to him. He told the court that his defence attorney, Advocate Ntsako Hlungwani, was supposed to be in court, but could not make it.

Crying uncontrollably, he pleaded with the court to release him so that he can go and prepare to bury his wife. He told the court that he is cooperating with the investigating officer and that he has given him passwords to his phones and that of his late wife.

Madadzhe told the court that police could also use the footage of the CCTV cameras at his home, which he believed may help to show what had happened on the day of the incident.

The case was postponed and he is to appear again on Tuesday, 31 January, where his legal representative will presumably argue on his behalf.

He remains in custody.

Date:30 January 2023

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

Read: 19449