Judgment for a double-murder case involving a mother and daughter and their neighbours is expected to be handed down in the Durban high court on Tuesday.

Slindile Zamisa, 43, her daughter, Andile Zamisa, 23, and a teenager appeared in the Durban high court on Thursday. They are facing two counts of murder, kidnapping and defeating the ends of justice charges regarding the murder of neighbour Simangele Simamane and her 12-year-old daughter, Sbongakonke Mthembu, whom they accused of witchcraft.

Simamane and her daughter’s bodies were found stuffed in a suitcase on Lwandle Drive, KwaDabeka, in October 2020.

According to the court indictment, on October 6 2020, the three together with another woman, Nomfundo Ngcobo, are said to have engaged the mother and daughter under the guise of wanting to resolve issues between Sbongakonke and the teenage accused.

When Simamane and her daughter arrived at their house in Newlands West, Zamisa and her family allegedly accused them of practising witchcraft and killing Bheki Ngcobo, who was Nomfundo and the teen's father as well as Slindile Zamisa’s husband.

They then held them against their will and tortured them to death before allegedly dumping their bodies in a suitcase in KwaDabeka, where they were eventually discovered.

Nomfundo’s then boyfriend, Sthembiso Lamula, is said to have helped with disposing the bodies. The two have since been sentenced to 20 years and six years, respectively, for their role in the murders and disposing of the bodies.

Simamane’s cause of death was determined to be “blunt-force head and soft-tissue injuries and strangulation”, while her daughter’s was said to be “consistent with ligature compression of the neck”.

It was previously reported that Nomfundo, a state witness, testified that the attack stemmed from a prophecy by a relative that Simamane was involved in the murder of Bheki Ngcobo. The witness detailed how she and the three accused tortured the deceased to death.

The case was adjourned to Tuesday.

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