The tiny court room D at Thohoyandou Magistrate’s Court could not accommodate the more than 200 people who came to witness the bail application by a 31-year-old woman who allegedly took part in killing her cousin’s wife by injecting her with poison, allegedly because she was also in love with her cousin.

Rendani Mathivha (31), appeared together with Simon Hlungwani (39) before magistrate Wilhelm Jacobus Smit and was charged with murder. They allegedly killed Grace Bvuma, 39, by injecting her with a poisonous substance.

It was their second appearance and they were supposed to apply for bail, but the two had not arranged any legal representation.

The magistrate postponed their case to July 24 and read their rights as to seeking legal representation.

The case drew a huge number of spectators and some were left outside the small courtroom and only learnt from those who had gained entrance about the postponement.

Hlungwani, of Malamulele, is working as a driver while Bvuma is of Shigalo village and it is not known whether she works or not.

Police spokesperson Insp Nkanukeni Raedani says the two women were believed to be in a love triangle. “The suspects allegedly went to the dead woman’s family at night and asked her to open the door, as they wanted to pay money for bricks they had bought from her husband. Since it was late at night she refused to open the door, but was convinced to open the door by her husband, whom she phoned about her situation,” he said.

“After she opened, she was sprayed with chemicals and was later grabbed, overpowered and allegedly injected with some poisonous substances,” Raedani said.

Unknown to them, when they left her for dead, she was still alive and phoned some close relatives before she died.

The police say that the post mortem has confirmed that poison had been administered to her body.

Bvuma’s husband, Joseph Mathivha, is a well-known businessman who is selling bricks in Malamulele and Thohoyandou. It is believed that Rendani Mathivha was love-smitten with her cousin. Hlungwani was allegedly hired to administer the deadly poison.

Bvuma was buried three weeks ago.

A spokesperson for the dead woman’s family, Willy Nkwinika, said the family believed the two should not be given bail.

“We are very aggrieved because she was not ill but killed in such a cruel manner. We feel granting the two bail will send a bad message to us as the family that our courts are not treating human life with respect,” said Nkwinika.

Ms Mashudu Nekhumbe prosecuted.