The family of the late Funanani Patience Mbedzi, who was shot and killed while attending a church service, was protesting outside court when her estranged husband briefly made an appearance last Friday.
Avhapfani Eric Mundalamo, 55, appeared in the Thohoyandou Magistrate's Court on a charge of murder. The case was postponed to 30 April, pending a decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions on whether additional charges would be brought against him for the illegal possession of a firearm.
The state prosecutor informed the court that ballistics results were now available but said there was uncertainty regarding the firearm licence. When the court inquired about the licence for the firearm used in the murder, Mundalamo said he had handed in both the firearm and the licence when he was arrested.
Funanani Mbedzi's younger sister, Lienet Mbedzi Mudau, said she was shocked to learn that after being granted bail last year, Mundalamo had returned to work at Thambatshira Secondary School.
"We are also looking after his children while he is out there working for himself. It is very painful," she said. She added that the accused had been granted bail by the High Court last year, but social workers had yet to provide them with any financial support for his children's maintenance.
"We arranged with the social workers that if he wanted to support his children, he had to work through them, and we would receive whatever he provided from them, but he has done nothing to date," she said.
Mundalamo was arrested on 30 March last year for the murder of his estranged wife, Funanani Patience Mbedzi. She was a popular choir leader, and the shooting occurred while she was leading a choir performance.
The church where she was attending the Easter sermon is situated next to the Mutale Bridge. Eyewitnesses described how a man walked up to Mbedzi, pulled out a gun, and shot her twice. As panic broke out, congregants fled in fear. Mbedzi sustained fatal injuries and died inside the church. The shooter then fled the scene in a silver-grey Toyota Corolla.