A man has pleaded guilty to murder after he killed his former girlfriend’s son. He commited the crime as he suspected that the boy was not his.
Saziso Mbanjana, 37, made the admission before judge Thandi Norman when his trial started in the Makhanda high court on Monday.
On Tuesday, the court heard presentencing proceedings.
The media reported in 2022 that Mbanjana had taken Sinobom Tywantsi to bushes at Bhongweni Township near the King Phalo Airport in East London on October 4.
In his admission, Mbanjana, who abandoned his bail bid, told the court he and Sinobom’s mother had two sons.
Sinobom was the younger of the two.
“When she was discharged from hospital after she gave birth to the deceased, I had suspicion that he was not my child since his ears were dark and I am light in complexion,” he said.
He decided not to ask Nandipha about this. He decided to keep it to myself. In 2019, he saw a photo of a pastor on her phone.
“I asked about this photo and she did not give me any explanation. Instead, she decided to leave me and rented another room in another house.”
He said on the day of the incident, he found the deceased playing with his older brother and another child outside his grandmother’s house.
He said to them they must go away and he would come later to take them to his house for a haircut.
He said he had gone to a shebeen and drunk two 750ml beers.
He went back and picked up Sinobom and said he was going to fetch herbs from an open field.
He handed himself to the police, confessed to the killing and did a pointing-out.