DAY +2 Newspaper report

Teenager guilty of brutal Chintsa murder

An 18-year-old murderer yesterday confessed to mercilessly raping and killing an elderly Chintsa East woman without provocation in October 2005. Pleading guilty in the East London High Court, Zola Mdyogolo admitted to raping, robbing and then strangling Margaret Edwards, 70.

Mdyogolo acknowledged to Judge Xola Petse: “The killing was unlawful and I was not provoked and there was no justification for me to kill the deceased.” The youth gave no reason for his actions, and displayed no emotion other than to rock back and forth as the guilty verdict was read out.

Edwards had taken her dogs for a walk at about 9am on October 15 when she was confronted by Mdyogolo. He demanded money, and when she refused, he robbed her of a wristwatch and a gold necklace while assaulting her. He then raped her despite her pleas for mercy, then strangled her. Mdyogolo left Edwards’ bleeding body on a footpath and then went on to ransack the house of another Chintsa resident, Andrew Jackson.

Quick-thinking Gonubie police managed to arrest Mdyogolo while he was trying to cross a nearby river. He was still in possession of the stolen goods, valued at R5000. Mdyogolo pleaded guilty on all four counts – robbery with aggravated circumstances, rape, murder and house-breaking.

After examining supporting evidence which included a post-mortem report and two albums of photographs, Petse said there was no doubt that Mdyogolo had committed the crimes and found him guilty. Instead of prolonged court proceedings which would have involved calling 16 state witnesses, the case was finalised yesterday with only sentencing outstanding.

State prosecutor advocate Selvan Gounden has asked for the maximum sentences to be handed down in each case – 15 years for robbery, life for rape and life for murder. Sentencing was postponed to June 21 to allow for a probation officer’s report and a correctional supervision report. Last year Mdyogolo was convicted of theft and sentenced to one year imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years.

[from Daily Dispatch, 28 March 2006]