The state has argued convicted killer Siphamandla Khumalo, 34, who stabbed his girlfriend more than 22 times in the parking lot of Durban's Gateway shopping mall in August last year had not shown remorse but instead given a halfhearted apology at the tail end of the trial.
Senior prosecutor advocate Krishen Shah made his submissions for aggravating factors for sentencing after Durban high court judge Jacqueline Henriques on Monday convicted Khumalo of the premeditated murder of Nomfundo Msibi.
“This was callous act. This was an exceptionally bad behaviour which would not have been taught at school, upbringing or at work. It was a decision which Khumalo had taken on his own,” said Shah.
He said Khumalo’s actions were of a jilted boyfriend.
Khumalo had not shown any remorse.
“He is nonchalant and expressionless. True penitence is indicative of someone who can be rehabilitated. Khumalo was a person who was in control of his mental faculties at the time of the incident,” said Shah.
An expressionless Khumalo, dressed in grey denim jeans and black sandals, had sometimes been chided for smiling while giving answers under cross-examination from Shah.
Khumalo, originally from the Nongoma area in northern KwaZulu-Natal, told the court he was the only male of five siblings.
He was residing at an informal settlement near the Gateway shopping mall where he rented a shack, while Msibi was staying in KwaMashu township.
He told the court his five siblings had matriculated while he had dropped out of school in grade 11.
He said his detention had prejudiced his family who were now struggling to make ends meet as he was the breadwinner, working as a bricklayer.
He attributed not finishing his schooling to not receiving support as his parents died early in their lives.
Khumalo told the court it was never his intention to kill Msibi. This was rebutted by Shah. Khumalo said he realised his actions were wrong two days after his detention.
“The video tells a different story. You are not remorseful and have not taken the court into its confidence as to why you murdered Msibi,” said Shah.
Herinques also asked Khumalo if it was his first time apologising to the victim's family. He said his apology was prompted by his wishes to harmonise his relations with the mother of his six-year-old son.
He said the family had reached out to Msibi’s family in the aftermath of the murder by sending a cow and a goat.
On Monday, Henriques said after considering the probabilities and improbabilities she had found the state had proved beyond doubt Khumalo was guilty.
She said the 22 stab wounds inflicted on Msibi’s body had demonstrated Khumalo’s intention to kill her.
Khumalo's lawyer, Phumelele Danisa, asked the court to deviate from a minimum sentence of life imprisonment and insisted it should consider a sentence of 25 years' imprisonment.
He said in coming to his argument he had taken into account factors which included his client being a first offender, a breadwinner and remorseful.
With the absence of his parents, his client had lacked a role model who would have guided him in life. Once in the custody of correctional services his client would be taught about anger management, Danisa argued.
Video footage of Khumalo stabbing Msibi was previously played in court by Shah. The state had also relied on two state witnesses, the victim's boyfriend Mthobisi Gasela and police officer Det-Const Boitumelo Phama to prove the case.
Khumalo and another man fled after Msibi, 30, was stabbed. An Okapi knife was found lodged in her body.
Henrique is expected to hand down sentence on Tuesday.
**TimesLIVE**