‘I can’t believe she’s gone’: Convicted murderer Thabo Nzimande reflects on his grandmother’s tragic death

Thabo Ntokozo Nzimande, who was convicted of murdering and decapitating his 80-year-old grandmother, told the Durban High Court on Friday that he still cannot believe the person who loved him the most is gone.

Nzimande, who claims he has no memory of stabbing Beatrice de Lange, decapitating her, and kicking her severed head like a soccer ball on June 7, 2024, said his grandmother was the one person who always stood by him and helped him through any situation.

Testifying in mitigation of sentence, the 33-year-old told the court he was struggling to come to terms with her death.

“I still don’t believe that she is gone. I can’t come to terms with the fact that she is not here anymore and that I will never see her again,” Nzimande said.

He maintained that although he did not dispute that his maternal grandmother, De Lange, had been killed, he had no recollection of committing the crime.

“They are saying she was stabbed. I don’t see myself being able to do something like what the court described as having happened that night. I don’t remember a single thing,” he said.

Nzimande could not explain how the knives found lodged in De Lange’s body came to be there, only recognising them as knives from their kitchen.

Nzimande and his grandmother lived together in a granny flat in Pinetown. 

The State’s case was that his maternal family could no longer cope with his drug addiction, leaving De Lange as the only relative willing to accommodate him.

Her condition, the court heard, was that Nzimande attend rehabilitation and stop using drugs. He also had to take drug tests frequently.

In the days before the murder, Nzimande underwent a drug test, the results of which were inconclusive, leaving De Lange disappointed.

His aunt, Ziningi Myaka, testified that on the day of the test, De Lange did not accompany Nzimande to his rehabilitation session. Myaka told the court she regularly travelled from Greytown to drive both Nzimande and De Lange to his rehabilitation appointments.

Nzimande also testified that he was raised by his maternal family, who paid for his tertiary studies after matric. However, he dropped out because of his alcohol and drug abuse.

He said De Lange paid for his first rehabilitation programme, while the medical aid that Myaka paid for covered the costs of the two subsequent admissions.

Asked by his Legal Aid lawyer, Advocate Musa Chiliza, where he intended to live after serving his sentence, Nzimande said he would stay with his paternal family.

He added that his cousin, Zakhona Shelembe, had supported him since his arrest.

During cross-examination, State advocate Nadira Moosa asked whether he had expressed remorse to his maternal family.

Nzimande replied that he could not admit to something he did not remember doing.

However, he said he had asked Shelembe to convey his condolences to his maternal relatives and tell them he was sorry for their loss and had never intended to hurt anyone.

Acting Judge Mpumelelo Sibisi postponed the sentencing proceedings to late September to allow for the preparation of a probation officer’s report.

nomonde.zondi@inl.co.za