Acting Judge Jackson Mushasha, State Advocate Ratshilumela Makhera and Adv Mbambadzeni Manwadu were locked in a lengthy argument which lasted for about seven hours in the Thohoyandou High Court last Friday.

This was in the murder case involving the 25-year-old convict Lutendo Madume, who appeared in court for sentencing. Judge Mushasha couldn't impose a sentence for the charges of kidnapping and murder, and the case was postponed to 18 June.

On 10 April, Madume was convicted for kidnapping and murdering the 20-year-old Tuwani Portia Fhetani at his Tshikwarani home on 9 January last year.

Madume, who had submitted a plea of not guilty throughout the trial, shocked the court when he said that he was now remorseful for the crimes for which he had been convicted. He wept profusely and said that he had loved his girlfriend (the deceased), to the extent that he wished he were dead too.

Adv Makhera asked him if he was remorseful. “It is too late (for this kind of testimony). These are crocodile's tears!” Makhera added.

The mention of 'crocodile's tears' elicited a soft laugh from Judge Mushasha, who had been looking sombre all along.

The convict's council, Adv Manwadu, asked the court to deviate from imposing a possible life sentence and said that he should be sentenced to 20 years' jail term and no more than that.

Adv Makhera disagreed with Manwadu, saying that Madume had proved to be a person who had no regard or respect for the community from which he came. The probationer's report was read and proved that Madume failed to respect his family members as well. “His mother moved out of the home to stay in another place because he wanted to interfere with her relationship,” said Mushasha.

Makhera echoed Mushasha's words. “The fact that he's not a first offender and that he killed the deceased in the presence of three police members indicates that the accused cannot be rehabilitated,” said Makhera. “He even threatened to do something to his first legal representative, once he's out. That lawyer eventually stopped representing him. I see no reason why the court should show leniency when sentencing him.”

Meanwhile, Judge Mushasha had established that the victim had died of haemorrhagic shock after she had been stabbed at least four times by the convict. He said that the kind of the knife used to kill the victim had not been in the room by chance. “It was a murder weapon kept by the accused for the purpose it served,” said Judge Mushasha. “It's a unique knife, with the handle in the middle, and is sharp on both sides.”

In the late afternoon, the court and the State closed their cases and sentencing was reserved for 18 June.