Durban — A man accused of committing murder and robbery expressed disbelief when he was refused bail.
The accused, Ndumiso Malunga, who turned 19 in March and is the father of a 5-month-old daughter, is alleged to have stabbed and killed Chigwila Agriba in Wyebank in 2021.
The State alleges that Chigwila and his girlfriend had left their residence and headed to a place called KwaNgwenya to buy cigarettes; however, before they could get there they came across five men.
According to the State, the time was around 2am when this played out nearly a year ago.
“Two of the five stabbed the victim who is deceased whilst the other robbed him of his cellphone. After the incident, the accused fled the area.”
Then last Sunday, police were tipped off on the whereabouts of the accused by an informant, leading to his arrest in Wyebank. During his bail application on Tuesday, the court heard that Malunga was not employed. However, he undertook casual work as a tiler at City Life.
He said that he earned about R1 500 a week which he used to support his family.
“I am awaiting my Psira card to attain my full qualification as a security guard and start looking for employment there,” he said.
He said that he had been living in Wyebank with his parents and siblings and implored the court to release him on bail as his child relied heavily on him financially.
“I am working casually and I want to hold on to that job until I fully qualify as a security guard. At home, I am responsible to contribute to household expenses.”
The investigating officer Sergeant SG Sosibo told the court that he was opposed to the accused being released on bail for a number of reasons including that there was a likelihood that he would evade trial and intimidate the witness.
“These are very serious offences and if found guilty the accused will be facing a lengthy term of imprisonment and there is a strong possibility that the accused will evade trial… The accused knows where the girlfriend of the deceased stays, and also the witness; he could easily influence or harm them.”
Sosibo said that Malunga was arrested at his friend’s residence after he had received a tip-off from an informant on his whereabouts.
“It must be taken into consideration that crimes of murder and robbery… are identified as a threat to the stability of our country and are very violent and prevalent crimes in the Pinetown Policing district… The community is up in arms about such people being released to the public.”
He told the court that Malunga allegedly showed disregard for the law as could be seen from the circumstances surrounding the case where he allegedly showed blatant disregard for human life.
“After the incident, the suspect (allegedly) ran away from his place of residence and it is just recently that he has come back and I was able to get information from my informer regarding his return and I was able to arrest him.”
Daily News