When the court learned that Legal Aid attorneys are reluctant to represent one of the accused, Ndalamo Nemakhavhani, the case against Zwidofhelangani Doreen Manwadu and her three co-accused took a dramatic turn.
Legal Aid attorneys who had earlier agreed to represent Nemakhavhani in court, according to candidate attorney Makuya, had instead chosen to withdraw from the case. She also informed the court that advocate Lidovho, who had previously appeared on behalf of another defendant, Pfunzo Ledzebe, during his last-week bail hearing, had not shown up when they had been in court on Tuesday (the 11th).
The late attorney James Manwadu's wife, Manwadu, is accused of employing Tshianeo Munyai, Ndalamo Nemakhavhani, and Pfunzo Lidzebe to murder her husband at their home in Maniini village on November 12, 2022. Manwadu has her own attorney.
In front of magistrate Shirley Nemutandani, Manwadu—accused number four in the case—appeared with Pfunzo Lidzebe, accused number two, and Ndalamo Nemakhavhani, accused number three.
Tshianeo Munyai, the first accused party, was not present in court, and it was informed by the court that he needed to appear in another court due to pending criminal matters in Giyani, Namakgale, and Makhado.
Investigators discovered a paper trail that included bank statements that reportedly showed payments totaling R100,000 that were made by Zwidofhelangani Doreen Manwadu to the accounts of the hitmen who had been apprehended. This led to her arrest.
According to the limited information that is known about the case, it is also said that detectives discovered phone records demonstrating that she had been in frequent communication with the hitmen just before her husband was assassinated.
Ms. Thinavhudzulo Manwadu, the eldest sister of the late lawyer James Manwadu, was throwing fire outside the Thohoyandou Magistrate's Court on Tuesday. "As a family, we are unsure of what my brother said or did to Zwidofhelangani to cause her to kill him, according to reports. She arrived in our country with nothing more than a Grade 12 diploma when my brother married her in 2002. She became a housewife despite not even having a job. He purchased her a brand-new Ford Figo sedan and started teaching her to drive right away. He was feeding a serpent that would [supposedly] kill him one day because of how much he loved her, she raged.
"As a family, we are completely saddened. Doreen isn't even aware of the value of a school uniform because my brother was giving his children everything. We might get some aid from the legal system in figuring out why she [supposedly] killed my brother. What did he do to merit that, exactly? According to reports, my brother was shot and died horribly," she continued.
Thinavhudzulo responded that a life sentence without the possibility of parole would be the proper punishment for the people who killed her brother.
The case was continued until June 21, 2023, to allow for additional police investigation.