Dad accused of stabbing, killing mom in front of kids applies for bail

Dima Phohlo.

Dima Phohlo.

Published Nov 17, 2023

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Durban — The family of a mother of two who was killed allegedly by the father of her children who is accused of stabbing the woman in front of them hopes that the accused is refused bail.

Mhleli Ndaba is to have his bail application heard today (Friday) in the Durban Magistrate’s Court.

He is alleged to have stabbed his fiancée, Dima Phohlo, repeatedly while they were in their Morningside home last month.

The injured mother ran outside where it’s alleged that Ndaba continued to stab her. It’s alleged that the victim attempted to flee from her partner and ran to a car that was passing, but he caught up with her after she fell, and allegedly stabbed her again.

Last Friday, Ndaba’s bail application could not be finalised and was postponed for further bail investigation.

On Thursday, Dima’s mother, Thandi Phohlo, said the accused did not deserve to ever be allowed back into society.

“I hope that he is refused bail and is sentenced to spend the rest of his natural life behind bars.

“It seems to us that he was calculating in all this: when we arrived at their home we found both Dima’s cellphones destroyed. He had put the phones on the gas stove, burning them. We found his son’s laptop in the house but Dima’s one was nowhere to be found. My daughter was always on her laptop. Days leading up to the murder, Dima had told us that the accused had changed his will and left everything to his brother. This tells us that maybe this is something he planned,” she said.

Mhleli Ndaba is charged with the murder of his fiancé, whom he allegedly stabbed in front of their two children aged 3 and 5 years. Picture: Supplied

Phohlo said that her daughter’s children, both boys aged 3 and 5 years, missed their mother.

“They don’t even ask where she is; they say ‘Dad killed Mom’, so they know exactly what happened. What also makes us think that he had planned this is that after he did it, he phoned his brothers, telling them what had happened. He did not bother phoning us ... why is that?”

She claimed the accused was abusive and would hit Dima when he came home drunk.

“As a family we would ask her why she does not just leave him as the life she was living abused was not a good one, but she would say that she did not want her children growing up without their parents together,” she said.

Phohlo said Dima had never opened a case against Ndaba for the abuse, adding that her daughter would always say that she hoped that Ndaba would change.

“There was an incident where he even pulled out his gun on her. She had come home the day before the murder and told us she was coming back home the next day, but that the day she was supposed to come home she was murdered.”

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