Durban — The family of a mom, who was stabbed and killed in front of her children aged 3 and 5, believe not enough was done to prove that the accused was a dangerous man who should not have been granted bail.
Mhleli Lindley Ndaba was released on R20 000 on Tuesday in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on condition he relocated to Stanger and did not contact his two children or any witnesses in the matter.
He is alleged to have stabbed his fiancé Dima Phohlo repeatedly while at their Morningside home last month.
The injured mother ran outside where it is alleged that Ndaba continued to stab her. It’s alleged that the victim attempted to flee from her partner and ran into a car that was passing, but he caught up with her after she fell and stabbed her again.
After magistrate Xolile Manjezi indicated that he would be granting Ndaba bail, Dima’s mother, Thandi Phohlo, her sisters and other relatives walked out of the courtroom before Manjezi got into the bail conditions.
Thandi sat away from relatives alone on the ground under a tree outside the court building with disappointment on her face.
“Mhleli should not have been granted bail. He is dangerous and is a danger to society. I don’t know why this was not brought to the court’s attention.
“He is even a danger to his own family. I know from his family that he has fired shots at the family home. The case they opened they withdrew.
“We feel unsafe with him being granted bail, he has chased my daughter before with a gun. We had actually feared that she would die from being shot by him,” Phohlo said outside court.
About two years ago Dima’s younger sister was hit by Ndaba with the but of his gun while they had all been drinking together on New Year’s Eve, Phohlo added.
“She (the younger sister) went to the police station to open a case but they got no joy there and nothing came of it as police said they had all been drinking.”
Phohlo said with Ndaba being ordered to not have contact with the children the family would not run after him to provide for the children.
“We are afraid of him and want nothing to do with him, he has a gun. We should have gone to the police sooner about his behaviour and his gun,” said Phohlo.
In granting Ndaba bail, Manjezi said that there was no evidence in any form from the deceased’s family that Ndaba had previously threatened them or the two minor children.
“There is no history of any gender-based violence committed by the applicant before this offence … He is 45 years old and is the sole director of his construction business which employs 35 people,” said Manjezi.
He said there was evidence before the court that a person who had intervened on the day that Dima was killed was threatened by Ndaba, but there was no evidence that the accused would prevent that person from coming to testify in court.
The matter was adjourned to January for further investigations that included the post-mortem report, crime scene photos, and video footage.
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