Durban — The Pinetown nurse alleged to have hired hit men, including her brother, to kidnap and murder her husband, appeared in the Durban High Court on Wednesday.
A warrant of arrest had been issued for Nomphumelelo Patricia Goncalves when she did not appear in court on her previous date. She handed a note to the court stating that she was referred to and was admitted into a psychiatric hospital in Howick.
Senior State advocate Krishen Shah said her bail was extended until her next appearance, on August 15. Her co-accused and brother, Nkosinathi Steve Zungu, is expected to appear alongside her.
Goncalves and Zungu are charged with the murder of Nkosi Timmy Langa. Goncalves is alleged to have hired Zungu and two others to kidnap Langa from their home and kill him.
“Accused Goncalves appears on her own. She is informed of the new date, this is when accused one will be here. Further dates have been arranged. Defence SG Zwane is not here today (Wednesday) but he is aware of the dates,” said Shah.
It is believed that Goncalves had tried to end her life. At that time her attorney, SG Zwane, told the court that “unfortunately my client is not here, subsequent to her diagnosis she was referred to a psychiatric hospital for treatment”.
Goncalves was admitted to the hospital for a few weeks and given two months to recover.
In June, in the midst of the trial, where already one of the alleged hit men and now state witness had testified, a previous state witness and alleged hit man in the matter, James Mashudu Mthimkhulu, had testified before the court how Langa was killed with an electric cord cut from a clothes iron in his home.
The cord was put around Langa’s neck. Zungu allegedly pulled on one end of the cord while Mthimkhulu allegedly pulled on the other.
It is alleged that Gonclaves had hired the men to murder Langa because she had endured physical abuse at his hands.
Daily News