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Facebook murder: Accused abandons bail

The man who seemingly confessed on Facebook to killing his 21-year-old girlfriend has abandoned his bail application at the Durban Magistrate's Court.

Thabani Mzolo, 23, who is accused of shooting dead his ex-girlfriend Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) student Zolile Khumalo, appeared briefly before Magistrate Mohamed Motala.

His case was postponed to August 29 and he was kept in custody at Westville Prison.

He will not be in court on the set date.

"We will talk to you via video from Westville Prison," Motala told Mzolo.

Motala did not give a specific reason why Mzolo would not be in court on that date.

READ Facebook murder: Court hears murder-accused has previous assault conviction

'It is surreal'

Motala added that some documents, including the post-mortem and the photo book of the crime scene, still needed to be submitted in court.

In the Facebook post, Mzolo wrote in isiZulu: "Konke kwaphenduka umlando ukube benginamandla bengzomvusa silungise amaphutha ngomlomo ...kodwa mnj kuphi laa ngba usehambe wangshiya ngingasashongo ukt ngyamxolela [sic]."

Loosely translated, he said: "It is surreal. If I had the power I would bring her back so that we can right our wrongs by talking. But that's no longer possible because she has left me without me having told her that I forgive her."

When one of Mzolo's Facebook friends asked him what had happened, he wrote, "Ndoda ngombulele uMy zozo [sic]." (Man, I killed my Zozo)

Mzolo, who is a former student at MUT, allegedly shot Khumalo on May 2 at MUT's Lonsdale residence, which is a privately leased residence in the Durban CBD.

He had been signed into Khumalo's residence by another registered student, according to the institution.

Family happy

The court previously heard that the accused has a previous assault conviction.

Khumalo's father, Comfort, told journalists outside court that his heart still hurts whenever he sees Mzolo.

"It hurts because I always get reminded that he is the person who took my daughter's life," he said.

He, however, said they were happy that Mzolo had abandoned his bail application.

"We were also against him applying for bail. He killed my daughter. He must remain in custody because he is a danger to society. He must just confess to killing my daughter," he said.

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