Durban man sentenced to life for house robbery and murder

A Durban man, Mzomuhle Kweyama, has been sentenced to life in prison for murder, attempted murder, and two counts of robbery committed in January 2025. At the Ntuzuma Regional Court, Kweyama pleaded guilty to the charges. He was given life sentences for both murder and attempted murder, and 15 years each for the two robbery counts, with concurrent sentencing.

According to Kweyama's statement, he was in dire financial straits and decided to rob a house in Inanda with a friend. Upon approaching the residence, they encountered four boys on the porch and an Audi Q2 in the driveway. Armed with guns, the perpetrators forced the four occupants, three women, into the house. They demanded money from the women and, when one woman indicated the money was in the rondavel, Kweyama shot her in the head.

Additionally, he struck another woman in the head with the gun. The group then fled in the stolen Audi and later abandoned it. Kweyama was apprehended in Inanda days later, while his friend remains at large. The deceased woman, Hlengiwe Nxumalo, had a son and was the family's caregiver. Her sister, Thandiwe Nxumalo, expressed the family's devastation, noting that Nxumalo was the family's pillar.

Nxumalo's sister, Samukelisiwe Buthelezi, sustained severe facial injuries and required a surgical procedure to replace her eye. The prosecutor argued that the crime was not opportunistic but a calculated, violent assault on a family home during the holiday season. The surviving family members are traumatized by the incident, with the prosecutor emphasizing the psychological toll of witnessing their loved one executed in broad daylight.