Lucky Mudau, the policeman accused of killing his ex-lover at the Tembisa Hospital in February before shooting himself, appeared in court for the first time on Monday. He is now paralysed from the neck down.
Mudua had been in a critical condition in hospital for months, but was escorted in a wheelchair into the Rabasotho Magistrate's Court in Tembisa, reports News24.
At the time of the killing, Mudau worked at Norkem Park police station, and is accused of murdering the 30-year-old mother-of-two, Lebo Monene, in the hospital's parking lot in February.
Monday’s matter was postponed because he did not have a lawyer.
Monene's father, Nicolas, described the experience as “opening old wounds”. “We will never forgive him … he killed my child.”
Nicholas said Mudau’s family had not contacted them to apologise. “They have continued with their lives as though nothing happened.”
Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) chairperson Simphiwe Gada said the justice system needed to send a strong message to all potential killers.
Because Monene had been a nurse, Gada promised the organisation would support the family until the case came to an end. “We are not just a union focused on workplace only. This (the murder) has had an impact on nursing, and we oppose violence directed at nurses and any form of gender-based violence,” he said.
Mudau will be back in court on 20 July.
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