A Pietermaritzburg standup comedian and his sister who were sentenced to 18 years for murder are a step closer to fighting for their freedom.
The siblings, who’ve spent seven years in prison, have been granted leave to appeal their 2016 murder conviction and sentence at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).
They’ve been released on bail pending their application.
Life for the two Ndlovu siblings from Nxamala, outside Pietermaritzburg, dramatically changed in 2016 after an alleged intruder broke into their home, stole some of their belongings, and fled.
Sithembiso (31) and Nokuthula Ndlovu (48) claimed that a vigilante group in the community later brought the alleged suspect, who was badly assaulted, to their home.
The siblings denied taking part in an assault.
The suspect, Lindokuhle Zondi, died in hospital a day later.
The Ndlovus were charged, convicted and sentenced for murder in the Pietermaritzburg regional court.
After succeeding in their leave to appeal their conviction and sentence, they were released on ten thousand rand bail each.
They are staying with a relative at Inanda in Durban.
Nokuthula’s children came to visit her while on school holiday.
“I wish this could come to an end so that we can also continue with our life because now it’s still difficult for us. We don’t have our freedom yet as we are still going to the police station to sign,” says Nokuthula.
The siblings also say their murder conviction has taken its toll on their family. Both their parents suffer from depression and other health complications.
Sthembiso was a third-year electrical engineering student at the time of the incident and was also a nominee for a SABC Crown Gospel award in the comedy category.
He says the support of social workers however kept him going through the hard times in prison.
“What kept me going in jail was to continue with my standup comedy. Thanks to social workers from the Westville Prison for encouraging me to continue. That assisted me spiritually and gave me hope that there is still life. But this badly affected me and my family. I still have the hope that one day this will change. Some of my family members couldn’t cope with us being incarcerated. Some even dropped out of school when we were sentenced,” he explains.
Their legal representative shed light on the evidence in dispute.
Attorney Thabani Mpungose says, “We are talking about a matter of murder where a postmortem report is not indicating what was the cause of the death. We also noticed that there are witnesses with one of them confirming that that he saw Sthembiso carrying the stick but did not see him hitting the deceased.”
Their bail meanwhile restricts the siblings from visiting their home at Nxamalala in Pietermaritzburg.
