Durban High Court convicts Thabo Nzimande of murdering and decapitating his 80-year-old grandmother

Thabo Ntokozo Nzimande was convicted of murder by the Durban High Court on Thursday for the killing and decapitation of his 80-year-old grandmother, Beatrice DeLange, on June 7, 2024.

Judge rejects defence and finds no alternative suspect

Acting Judge Mpumelelo Sibisi found there was no evidence suggesting anyone else could have killed DeLange in the granny flat she shared with Nzimande in Pinetown. The judge dismissed Nzimande’s claim that he did not know what had happened that night, saying,

“The version of the accused denying knowledge of how the deceased was killed is a lie.”

Defence of temporary insanity not accepted

The judge also rejected Nzimande’s defence that he was temporarily insane at the time of the murder, finding instead that “He has selective amnesia as far as crucial questions are concerned.” Nzimande had told the court he had taken sleeping tablets, smoked marijuana and then gone to sleep, and that he did not know what had happened.

Witness and police evidence

Judge Sibisi accepted the testimony of Nzimande’s uncle, John Ngcobo, who said he saw Nzimande holding DeLange’s severed head, swinging it and kicking it like a soccer ball. Ngcobo testified that after hearing noises he and his wife, Delisile (DeLange’s daughter), went to investigate. When Nzimande did not respond to calls, Delisile returned to the main house while Ngcobo continued trying to get his attention.

Looking through a window, Ngcobo said he saw Nzimande covered in blood and carrying DeLange’s severed head, and that Nzimande instructed him to call the police. The judge found the evidence from the police officers who attended the scene credible. Officers testified that Nzimande handed them the key to the flat through a window; inside, they found DeLange’s severed head in the lounge and her headless body in another room.

Other courtroom details

Nzimande’s cousin, Zwelethu Ngcobo, testified that while sitting in the back of a police van after his arrest, Nzimande shouted that

“the whole of Pinetown was going to know who he was”.

The State, led by advocate Nadira Moosa, presented what the judge described as sufficient credible evidence linking Nzimande to the murder. Sibisi also noted that Nzimande’s claimed blackouts were unsupported by medical evidence, and that “There is no corroboration of the accused’s version or defence.”

Next steps

The case will continue for mitigation of sentence.