Girlfriend who stabbed woman for whispering in her boyfriend’s ear jailed for 22 years

Published Aug 19, 2022

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Durban - A 29-year-old Vryheid woman who stabbed a woman in her jugular following a fight over her boyfriend has pleaded guilty to her murder.

Mbali Msezane,29, pleaded guilty to killing Nkosingiphile Mampe Zulu, 38, on the evening of May 14, in Vryheid, Northern KZN.

Msezane and Zulu were both patrons of the Stop and Buy Tavern in the Vryheid area.

In a Section 105A Plea and Sentence agreement handed to the Pietermaritzburg High Court by attorney Pauline Andrews, Msezane said on the day of the incident that she had been consuming alcohol since early that morning.

She said her boyfriend Nhlakanipho Msima suggested they pop in at Stillwater Tavern.

Msezane said Zulu and a group of women were also at the tavern.

“She was mumbling to my boyfriend in his ear. I couldn’t hear, as the music in the tavern was very loud. I heard my boyfriend saying to her that she must leave him alone because he doesn’t want to fight with his girlfriend.”

She said Zulu responded that “she wasn’t scared of his girlfriend.”

“I stood up from the table, wanting to fight with the deceased. I told Zulu not to talk to my boyfriend like that and that I wasn’t scared of her.“

Msezane said a neighbour prevented a fight from breaking out and Zulu went back to her table.

She said after a few minutes, Zulu returned and demanded alcohol.

Msezane said this was when her boyfriend suggested they go to another tavern.

She said they left to go to Stop and Buy Tavern, but the deceased and her friends also came there.

“After a while, the deceased stood up from their table and again approached our table and sat next to my boyfriend, whispering in his ear.

“My boyfriend asked the deceased what was her problem. I got upset and took the half-bottle Savanna cider I was drinking, left our table and went to join another table.

“I was far away from our table, continuing to drink. After the second bottle of Savanna, Zulu was still leaning on the ear of my boyfriend. I threw the Savanna bottle behind them in order to separate them. No one was injured at this time.”

Msezane said Zulu and her friends approached her and assaulted her.

“I went inside the tavern toilet to clean myself up as I was bleeding.

“There was a boy at the tavern who called me, and I explained to him that this was the second time that this group of women were assaulting me.

“This boy gave me his knife and told me to go stab them. I took the knife from him, went to the deceased, who was still sitting next to my boyfriend, closed my eyes and stabbed the deceased several times.

“I walked towards the door to see the reaction of the rest of the group of women. I returned to the deceased and continued to stab her·again several times.”

Msezane said she was unsure where she stabbed Zulu because it “all happened so fast.”

She told the court that the next day, her boyfriend informed her that Zulu had died.

Msezane told the court that she was truly remorseful for her actions.

Pietermaritzburg High Court Court Judge Kate Pillay sentenced her to 22 years behind bars.

The State was represented by Advocate Attie Truter.

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