Man jailed 23 years for fatal New Year’s Day stabbing

A New Year’s Day beer-drinking confrontation at Old Pumula Shopping Centre turned deadly when Thembelenkosini Mlotshwa fatally stabbed Khulekani Mjaho with an AK-47 press-button knife, an act the High Court ruled was deliberate and executed “with actual intent to kill.”

Justice Ngoni Nduna, sitting at the Bulawayo High Court convicted Mlotshwa of murder with actual intent and sentenced him to 23 years in prison, ruling that his conduct was “cold, callous and intentional.”

“The accused stabbed the deceased so heavily that the knife penetrated deeply into the body,” Justice Nduna said. “There can be no other conclusion which can be sustained on the facts of this case other than that the accused intentionally caused the death of the deceased.”

According to the court record, the fatal incident occurred on January 1, 2025, when both men were drinking beer at Old Pumula Shopping Centre in Bulawayo.

Witnesses testified that after being struck with a plastic chair by the deceased during a confrontation, Mlotshwa pulled out a knife from his person and stabbed Mjaho once in the abdomen before fleeing the scene.

Mjaho later died in the hospital. The post-mortem report listed the cause of death as haemorrhagic shock, abdominal visceral injury, and callous stabbing.

Mlotshwa denied intending to kill, claiming the deceased was the aggressor who attacked him first and that the stabbing occurred accidentally as he tried to disarm Mjaho.

But the court dismissed his version as “difficult to comprehend” and inconsistent with the eyewitness accounts.

“The witnesses observed the accused taking out the knife and stabbing the deceased before running away,” the judge said. “It was in the morning and visibility was very good such that the witnesses could not have been mistaken on what they saw.”

Nduna said the nature and depth of the stab wound, and the fact that it was aimed at a vital organ, proved intent.

“In pursuance of the assault, one stab wound was inflicted — the degree of force and depth of the wound was severe,” he ruled. “The accused deliberately aimed at that part of the body and fled the scene upon landing the knife. That shows his intention to achieve the death of the deceased.”

The judge noted that Mlotshwa could not claim drunkenness as mitigation because the murder occurred early in the morning and there was no evidence he was intoxicated.

In imposing a 23-year prison term, Nduna said the crime was aggravated by the use of a weapon and by the fact that the victim was a young father of two.

“The deceased had a wife and children who are now without a father,” the judge said. “There is nothing in the commission of the offence which invites the court to mercy. The accused was armed and ready to use the knife.”

While emphasising that punishment must be “fair and just instead of savage or draconian,” the judge said mercy could not outweigh the gravity of taking another life.

“It must not be lost that another human being was killed,” Nduna said. “There, a sentence of 25 years would have been fair, but for the mitigation outlined above, 23 years’ imprisonment is just.”

The murder weapon was forfeited to the State for destruction. — _*NewZimbabwe*_