The case against Zwidofhelangani Doreen Manwadu and her three co-accused was postponed to 11 April 2023 for a bail application when they appeared in the Thohoyandou Magistrate's Court on Friday, 3 February.
Manwadu is accused of hiring Tshianeo Munyai, Ndalamo Nemakhavhani and Pfunzo Lidzebe – all with previous criminal records - to kill her husband, the late advocate James Manwadu, at their house at Maniini village on 12 November 2022. She was arrested after investigators found a paper trail, including bank statements that reflected payments amounting to R100 000 made by her to the accounts of the hitmen. Sources within the NPA further allege that investigators also found phone records showing that she had been in close contact with the hitmen shortly before her husband was killed.
Only two of the co-accused, Lidzebe and Nemakhavhani, appeared with Manwadu on Friday. Munyai appeared in the Phalaborwa Magistrate's Court on that same day in connection with another case against him. The co-accused are all still applying for legal aid lawyers.
While the three suspects were inside the courtroom, angry residents from Maniini village were chanting outside, saying that Manwadu must never come back to the village because she was a killer. One of the marchers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she was surprised that political parties had taken centre stage when Livhuwani Madadzhe, aka SABC Livhu, had appeared in the same court the previous week.
"Does gender-based violence only affect political parties when a man kills a woman, or is it the same when a woman kills a man? I see no political parties or GBV activists here today. I call on political parties to stop using such tragedies for political grandstanding. We know that there is going to be national elections again next year, but they should not use our pain and suffering for political gain," she said.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the NPA in Limpopo, Mashudu Malabi Dzhanga, said the state would oppose bail when the suspects appeared in the same court again on 11 April. "The suspects are facing serious crimes around the province, and they are not suitable candidates to be granted bail," she said.