Lwanda Mxolisi Zungu, a former soldier accused of fatally shooting his wife, Tania Zungu, eight times, has told the Pinetown Regional court that his wife is the one who pulled the trigger and shot herself multiple times; however, in contradiction, he maintains that Tania did not kill or shoot herself.
During his cross-examination by State prosecutor Rowan Souls, Zungu testified about the fateful day, January 3, 2024. He stated that while he was searching for his takkies to go to the gym, he heard his gun being cocked by his wife. Simultaneously, his wife screamed for her mother, who was inside the house, alleging that Zungu was assaulting her.
According to Zungu, he jumped onto the bed to protect himself by trying to ensure the gun barrel was not pointing at him. He stated that a struggle for the firearm ensued on the bed, and in that chaos, the gun went off.
However, he was adamant that he never got to touch the trigger of his semi-automatic firearm, but failed to say who fired the shots eight times, with seven bullets hitting his wife on her neck and one in her chest.
Lwanda Mxolisi Zungu who is accused of killing his wife claims he had no intention of killing her because they were inlove.
“Do you agree with me that your wife couldn’t shoot herself?” Souls asked
Zungu replied by saying that the gun went off while it was in Tania’s hand. “The gun went off whilst it was in Tania’s hand… If a gun went off in her hand, who shot her? I’m confused. I tried explaining that the gun went off in a struggle, and the gun went off several times till it stopped. I never said she shot herself.”
As Souls pressed him on who pulled the trigger, Zungu maintained he never did and said his wife couldn’t shoot herself eight times.
“How could it have happened that the gun went off without one of you pulling the trigger?” Magistrate Muntukayise Khumalo asked.
He said he does not know how the trigger was pulled, only that the gun did go off.
“Follow the logic. My suggestion to you is she could have been the one who pulled the trigger, either by mistake or she intentionally shot herself,” magistrate Khumalo said.
Zungu responded that the trigger would not have been pulled if they were not fighting over the gun. Souls then reminded Zungu of an expert report stating that the semi-automatic firearm cannot fire without the trigger being pulled, a statement Zungu conceded to.
“You are saying that at all material times the firearm was in her possession, her finger was on the trigger, and we know that if the firearm was to go off, the trigger had to be pulled eight times. It means she pulled the trigger eight times,” Souls put it to Zungu.
Zungu still maintained his version of events. Souls warned Zungu that he would argue that Zungu was an evasive witness who avoided his questions. When Souls pressed again, “So who pulled the trigger eight times if it was not you?”
Zungu finally conceded: “It is my wife who pulled the trigger; what is in dispute is that she killed herself. She must have pulled the trigger by mistake, not that she was killing herself,” Zungu said.
Moreover, Souls reminded Zungu of the evidence from the doctor, who stated that Tania would be incapacitated after two gunshots to her neck. However, Zungu disputed the evidence of the doctor.
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