Publications
Partners
Mbombela - A man who hacked his wife to death with a spade has told the Nelspruit High Court that she had been cheating on him.
Erense Fanafana Mpangane, 30, told Judge Zeenat Carelse on Wednesday that he was "forced" to attack Vivian Ntabiseng Monareng with a spade due to an "emotional situation".
Mpangane, from Bhuikutso Trust outside Bushbuckridge, handed himself over to police three days after he killed Monareng on January 29. He pleaded guilty to murder.
Monareng, a third-year student at the University of Venda, was struck on the head with a spade three times, fracturing her skull. She sustained multiple injuries to her body.
In Mpangane’s confession statement, which his lawyer Francois Kriel read to the court, he said the argument started at their home in Bhuikutso Trust on January 29.
"We quarrelled and her boyfriend phoned. She ran inside the house and locked the door. I took the spade, broke open the door and went inside. We quarrelled again and she then told me that she was pregnant and I was not the father. She also said I was not the biological father of our 6-year-old daughter," he said.
Monareng got out of the house through a window, and he followed her, still holding the spade. He attacked her with it.
"I admit I had no right to hack her with the spade. I got angered by the fact that she was having an affair, whilst I was the one supporting her on her studies at the university," he said.
Court asked to show mercy
They met in 2008 and he paid lobola to her family in 2011.
Kriel asked the court to have mercy on his client and deviate from the prescribed sentence for murder. He said he had shown remorse and had admitted guilt, and that the murder had happened in an "emotional situation".
Monareng’s elder sister, Eva Monareng, a petrol attendant, said she was taking care of her sister’s daughter. She said the child kept asking when her mother would return from university.
"I get no assistance from the accused’s family. He has also not written a letter of apology and his family also did not come to speak to us. We were expecting our sister to complete her teaching studies this year and transform the family," she said.
Prosecutor Ntsika Mpolweni said Mpangane should have left Monareng alone when she locked herself in the house.
According to the post mortem report, her head wounds were severe and consistent with the use of force.
"This indicated the accused’s intention was to kill the deceased. He has pleaded guilty due to the overwhelming evidence against him," Mpolweni said.
The case was postponed until October 18 for sentencing.
