By Jolene Marriah-Maharaj 
1h ago
A DURBAN pensioner who hacked his girlfriend and their toddler to death with a bushknife before fleeing the scene has been jailed for an effective 35 years behind bars.
Thembinkosi Thatios Ngcobo, 62, pleaded guilty in the Durban High Court to the murder of his girlfriend, Ntombifuthi Happiness Blose, 30, and their child, Minenhle Swelihle Blose, 3.
In his guilty plea, Ngcobo said he had been dating Ntombifuthi Blose since 2016. He said he had been living and working in Pietermaritzburg.
Blose gave birth to the child, Minenhle Blose, in 2017 and he was told he was the biological father, he said.
He told the court that she would visit him frequently.
In September last year, he said, he was transferred to Durban and rented a place in Phoenix. Blose began living permanently with him on September 27.
He said the following day, she requested to fetch her clothing from another residence.
“When she came back later in the afternoon she advised me that her ex-boyfriend is refusing to let go of her clothing items.”
Ncgobo said he was surprised she was living with her ex-boyfriend, but advised her to go to the police and request them to accompany her to retrieve her items.
He said her ex-boyfriend also phoned him.
He said that the next day she arrived with the police and her items and they went to bed.
“I was so overwhelmed by extreme anger and uncontrollable emotions and suddenly found myself reaching for a bushknife. I instinctively found myself assaulting her with the bushknife. During that process, the child was also seriously injured by the bushknife as she was clinging to her mother.”
Ngcobo heard neighbours say they were going to call the police.
He fled the scene in “a state of shock”.
According to Natasha Kara, from the National Prosecuting Authority, Ngcobo was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for Ntombifuthi’s death and 15 years imprisonment for the death of Minenhle. | IOL
Credit IOL