THE Bulawayo High Court has found a Colleen Bawn man, who was facing a murder charge, guilty of culpable homicide.
He was sentenced to five years in prison.
Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Naison Chivayo handed down the sentence on Tuesday following proceedings in which Prince Malamba, represented by Brian Robi of Senda and Sansole, denied the murder charge, but pleaded guilty to culpable homicide.
The deceased, Mxolisi Ncube, died on July 13, 2024, at Gwanda Provincial Hospital after sustaining a stab wound to the left thigh during an altercation at Section 4, Khayelitsha Compound in Colleen Bawn.
According to court papers, the dispute arose after the accused confronted Ncube over sweeping an area used for gold processing.
Witnesses told the court that Malamba became angry, slapped and stabbed the deceased once on the lower part of the left thigh with an Okapi knife.
A post-mortem conducted at United Bulawayo Hospitals by Sanganai Pesanai concluded that the stab wound had lacerated the left popliteal vessels, leading to acute cardiac failure, acute anaemia and haemorrhagic shock.
The court heard evidence from several witnesses, including relatives of both the accused and the deceased, who described the events leading to the stabbing and the deceased’s transportation to hospital where he later died.
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The murder charge had been brought in terms of section 47(1)(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, but the court found that the facts supported a conviction for culpable homicide instead of murder.
