Zanele Mkhonto, 28, who was arrested for the August 2022 murder of her boyfriend, Sergeant Mandlenkosi Happy Thwala pleaded guilty when she appeared before the High Court in Mbombela.
IOL last year reported that the 45-year-old police sergeant was shot five times with his service pistol — two times in the head and three times in his upper body — on August 2 last year in Gedlembane, Pienaar.
The brutal murder of the police officer was investigated by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations, also known as the Hawks, based in Mbombela.
“Zanele Mkhonto, aged 28, appeared before the Mbombela High Court on November 2, for the murder of a police officer,” said Hawks Mpumalanga spokesperson, Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi.
“The accused (Mkhonto) pleaded guilty on pre-meditated murder. The case was postponed to November 27 for pre-sentence report at the high court.”
Mkhonto remains in custody until her next appearance.
Sekgotodi said Mkhonto was arrested just days after the policeman’s murder, and remained behind bars since August last year.
“During the investigation, Mkhonto, the girlfriend of the late Thwala was linked to the murder, arrested and charged on August 10, 2022,” said Sekgotodi.
“She appeared at KaNyamazane Magistrate’s Court on the same day and was remanded in custody. The accused (Mkhonto) received the services of Legal Aid and battled in court on several occasions to obtain bail. She was denied bail and remained in custody since.”
Days after the murder, IOL reported that Thwala’s body was discovered by a concerned neighbour.
“Police in Pienaar were called to attend to a scene where a neighbour alleges that she received a call from the mother of the member, requesting the neighbour to check on her son as she is suspecting that her son might have been murdered,” Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said at the time.
“Upon the police’s arrival, they found him motionless, laying in his bed with visible gunshot wounds on his body. He was shot five times allegedly with his service pistol, two times in the head and three times on his upper body,” he said.
“There were also two cartridges found on the floor, and his vehicle, a green Volkswagen Polo Classic with registration DSV 112 MP, as well as his service firearm and cellphone were missing but later discovered abandoned in the bushes. A murder case with additional charge of robbery was opened for investigation.”
IOL