Thabo Ntokozo Nzimande has been in custody since June after being arrested for allegedly beheading his 80-year-old grandmother in their Pinetown home. | Supplied
Durban — A 31-year-old Pinetown man alleged to have beheaded his grandmother and then kicked around her head like a soccer ball deserves every blow dealt to him by the long arm of the law.
These were the words of a family member on Tuesday after Thabo Ntokozo Nzimande abandoned his bail for the second time in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court.
Nzimande has been in custody since his arrest in June when police responded to reports of a man walking around the yard of an apartment at an estate on Maurice Nicholas Road.
On arrival police found the body of 80-year-old Beatrice DeLange lying in the bedroom without the head, which was found in the lounge.
Nzimande was found at the scene wearing blood-stained clothes.
The last time Nzimande was before the court in August, he appeared on a screen monitor from Westville Prison via the Audio Visual Remand (AVR) System and indicated that he now wished to exercise his right to lodge a bail application.
However, on Tuesday after the State placed the matter on record for the bail application, adding that it was still opposing it, Nzimande through his Legal Aid SA representation said he was abandoning bail once again.
“The court process must run its course, and if they give him bail where will he go?” said the relative who preferred not to be named.
“He hanged himself, no one wants him because of what he did, especially after all the attempts made to try to help him get his life back on track. The whole family has tried with him, everything in our power. He is on his own, we have no room for him,” said the relative.
Following his first appearance in court in June, Nzimande was evaluated by a district surgeon at RK Khan. The preliminary report found him unfit to stand trial and recommended he be booked a bed for further psychological evaluation. In the report, Nzimande was diagnosed with bipolar mood disorder as well as substance-induced psychotic disorder.
However, further psychiatric evaluation at government psychiatric hospital, Fort Napier, found Nzimande was not mentally ill and could stand trial.
“He has never been bipolar. He claims that he doesn’t remember anything of what happened. We believe that’s a lie, and that this was premeditated. He has been given many opportunities in life,” said Nzimande’s relative.
The accused was taken in by his grandmother after being thrown out of his family home for being problematic.
The case was adjourned to October.
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