Edzisani Gilbert Ndou (46), who was accused of the murder of George Radzivhoni Mudumela (82) in 2018, was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment by the Limpopo High Court in Thohoyandou on Wednesday, 4 November.
According to Limpopo police spokesperson Col Moatshe Ngoepe, Ndou went to Mudumela's house on 21 January 2018 and accused him of stealing his (Ndou's) cellphone during a drinking spree the previous night. An argument ensued, whereafter Ndou picked up an axe and hacked the elderly Mudumela to death before fleeing the scene.
The provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Limpopo, Lieutenant General Nneke Ledwaba, has welcomed the sentence and praised Detective WO Naledzani Gumbu for his excellent work on the case. "We hope that the deceased's family will find closure on this matter, knowing that the person responsible for this heinous crime will be behind bars for a long time," he said. "Perpetrators of this type of crime will not be left unpunished."
However, when speaking to the deceased's younger sister, Mercinah Mudumela (52), Limpopo Mirror was told that, although justice had been served, she, as well as Mudumela's children, had been threatened and terrorised by Ndou's relatives, and that they were still fearing for their lives.