Durban — The trial against a teenager charged with the murder of a Newlands West mother and child was delayed yet again in the Durban High Court on Monday.
Four years ago the bodies of mother and daughter Smangele Simamane and 12-year-old Sbongakonke Mthembu were discovered stuffed into a big suitcase on Lwandle Drive in KwaDabeka.
Three years later Slindile Pamela Zamisa and her daughter Andile Zamisa were sentenced for the crimes by the Durban High Court.
Slindile was handed two life sentences, one for each murder, while Andile was also sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Simamane.
They were each sentenced to five years for kidnapping Sbongakonke, five years for kidnapping Simamane, and six years for defeating the ends of justice by concealing evidence.
The accused mother and daughter had pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against them by the State. The teen -- who had been charged along with the women -- indicated she wanted to plead guilty when the trial began and a separation of trials was imposed.
Before judgment was handed down in 2023, the teen who was 12 years old at the time of the murders, tendered her guilty plea in the High Court. However, the presiding judge did not accept it and instead wanted the matter to go to trial.
The teen, who is now 16, had always been represented by a private attorney and her move to now be represented by Legal Aid South Africa has seen a delay in the commencement of her trial.
Court proceedings relating to the trial against the teen are held in camera as she is a minor. Only the families of the slain mother and daughter as well as the accused teen are allowed inside the courtroom.
Speaking outside court after proceedings, Simamane’s husband, Senzo Simamane, said the teen’s attorney asked for the postponement to allow for more time to go through the court transcripts of the trial.
He said that the case was postponed to next week.
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