SABC Livhu's murder case may be withdrawn

The possible withdrawal of the murder charge against Livhuwani Madadzhe, better known as comedian SABC Livhu, is still on the cards if the state prosecutors cannot get their house in order.

Madadzhe appeared in court again on Monday (29^th), and speculation was rife that the charge that he had murdered his wife might be withdrawn. His hopes were, however, dashed when the senior state prosecutor, Ms Mashudu Nekhumbe, successfully asked the court to give her time to sort out outstanding issues pertaining to the case.

The comedian stands accused of murdering Ms Lindelani Nengovhela on 28 January last year. Nengovhela, better known as Mia Muofhe in social-media circles, was found dead and floating in a water-filled disused toilet pit at their home in Sidou, Mangondi. Madadzhe was charged with murder the same day. He was later released on R50,000 bail, with conditions attached to it.

In the past year, Madadzhe has been in and out of court. His last appearance was on 1 March this year and was marked as a final postponement, pending a statement from the late woman's daughter, DNA results, and the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

When he appeared on Monday, the charges were expected to be withdrawn. The state prosecutor then indicated that she had managed to obtain the necessary statement from the daughter, even though that had not been easy. She indicated to the court that DNA results and the DPP's decision were still outstanding. She requested the court to give her two more weeks to get the DNA results and said that she had personally spoken to the commander of forensics in Pretoria, who had promised that the results would be available in a few days.

For the accused, advocate Ntsako Hlungwani submitted that the case should be struck off the roll as it had been dragging on for a long time.

The court granted the State a few days' postponement to collect the outstanding DNA results and obtain a DPP decision. Madadzhe will have to appear in court again on 3 May.

Outside court, the late woman's sister, Ms Sylvia Nengovhela, expressed her gratitude to the court for having postponed the case to await the DNA results. “This gives us hope as a family. We would have been very devastated if the case was to be withdrawn. This gives us hope that justice will finally be served,” she said.

Date:02 May 2024

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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