Durban — The trial against an uMlazi teen charged with the murder of a gay man was postponed to be heard at the end of July.
Lwazi Bongokuhle Khumalo, 18, appeared on Monday in the Durban High Court where the trial was meant to start but it was postponed.
Khumalo was 17 when he allegedly stabbed Senzokuhle Eugene Mthombeni multiple times before robbing him.
The State alleges that the accused knowing that the victim was gay used this knowledge to his advantage and robbed and murdered him.
Khumalo’s case was postponed because he had been at a backup trial in W court, should the main trial -- which was set to be heard -- fall away.
According to the State, a post-mortem revealed that Mthombeni died of multiple stab wounds to the neck, chest, and abdomen.
Khumalo also faces robbery with aggravating circumstances later this month.
A summary of the facts in the case, as per the accused’s indictment, is that Mthombeni, 35, employed by Toyota, lived in P section. On the night of the murder he and the teen were in each other’s company at Mthombeni’s residence.
The duo were in the room that Mthombeni lived in. It is allegedly that the accused decided there to kill Mthombeni.
“He stabbed the victim repeatedly in the upper body and neck. The victim died at the scene from the injuries inflicted on him by the accused.”
It's alleged that the accused used force and violence to induce Mthombeni into submission and stole from him his (Hewlett Packard) laptop, a Samsung cellphone as well as a Hyundai Accent motor vehicle.
“The accused took the deceased’s vehicle and drove the it to B section in uMlazi where he left it.
“Soon after the events of the night of May 20-21, 2022 the accused sold the deceased’s Samsung cellphone and HP laptop computer.
“The accused made reports regarding events of the night of May 20-21, 2022 and the deceased to, inter alia, his school principal, his aunt/grandmother, his mother, and a commissioned officer of the SAPS.”
Khumalo is out on warning.
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