A KwaZulu-Natal man was convicted of shooting dead his aunt and wounding a bystander at the graveside of her husband.
|||Pietermaritzburg - A KwaZulu-Natal man was convicted on Thursday of shooting dead his aunt and wounding a bystander at the graveside of her husband.
The Pietermaritzburg High Court found that Lungisi Mdluli, 38, shot dead his aunt Buyi Joyce Radebe during her husband's funeral in Newcastle in February.
Admitting guilt, he said there had been animosity between his aunt and himself about whether her husband Ngobile Radebe should be buried in Johannesburg or Newcastle.
Mdluli claimed Buyi Radebe had threatened to hire hitmen to kill him over the disagreement.
During the funeral at a cemetery in Newcastle, he saw her talking to two armed men he suspected could be the hitmen.
He went behind her and began shooting, killing her and wounding a bystander.
He told the court he then tried to commit suicide, but failed because he was beaten up by other people attending the funeral.
KwaZulu-Natal deputy judge president Achmat Jappie convicted Mdluli of the murder and attempted murder.
Sentence will be passed on Tuesday. - Sapa