Durban — Convicted murderer and rapist Njabulo Ndlovu’s blaming of his actions on provocation and anger showed his “lack of remorse”.
This was according to a criminologist who weighed in on the murders of 7-year-old Zenande Ndlela, her mother, Simangele, and grandmother Zanele Ndlela.
This week Ndlovu pleaded guilty in the Pietermaritzburg High Court to the murders and raping Zenande.
Professor Witness Maluleke, a senior lecturer in the University of Limpopo’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, said Ndlovu’s admission of guilt and true reflection of the events did not justify his disturbing behaviour.
“We cannot blame lack of parental discipline for the committed schedule 1 criminal offences.”
He said Ndlovu’s actions revealed a combination of factors.
“He made a rational choice to portray the indicated violent acts. He engaged in communicating these crimes freely.
“He never calculated available gains or losses before he decided to disobey the law like he did; blaming it on provocations and anger shows his lack of remorse. All his victims were his suitable targets and lack of security during the commission of these crimes hugely contributed to this; the grandmother in question tried in vain, owing to her vulnerable strength; the same can be mapped to the killed mother and the raped and killed child,” Maluleke said.
“His actions are uncalled for and he should not go unpunished; this should not be normalised across South Africa. The long arm of the law should be applied to him accordingly without fear or favour. The swift reaction by the criminal justice system to ensure that he receives a suitable penalty is highly sought to control his behaviour and deter others from following in his footsteps.”
In aggravation of sentence this week, senior State prosecutor C Kander handed to the court three victim impact statements, one from a community member who had close ties with the Ndlela family, another from Zanele’s sister and the last from Zenande’s teacher.
“Now that the accused is convicted as a serial killer and child rapist he faces a minimum sentence of life in more than one of the counts… The sadistic, callous, brutal nature of the attack is clear in the post-mortem reports.”
Detailing Zanele’s injuries as per the report, Kander said she was not only strangled but sustained blunt-force head injuries, deep scalp bruising, lacerations to her eyelid as well as a severe brain haemorrhage.
Kander said photographs showed Zanele’s face was battered and swollen with a number of open wounds.
“Simangele’s post-mortem report shows that in addition to being strangled she also suffered a blunt-force head injury as well as a chest wound.”
Kander said it was clear from the victim impact statements Zanele and her daughter were popular in the community and important to the family.
In her statement, Zanele’s sister, Thandeka Dube, said her sister was the only living sibling she had and detailed the agony of having to lay three family members to rest at the same time.
Zenande’s teacher Phumzile Mpulo described the little girl as beautiful, intelligent, and spirited
She said Zenande exuded love but in the end, she was physically broken by a “callous monster”.
Daily News