No jail time for Manqele‚ lawyer pleads

10 March 2016 - 14:25 By Nomahlubi Jordaan

Sindisiwe Manqele‚ the woman who killed her rapper boyfriend Nkululeko “Flabba” Habedi‚ had not acted out of anger‚ jealousy or malice and did not deserve to go to jail‚ it was argued on her behalf on Thursday. Manqele‚ 26‚ was found guilty in December of murdering Habedi‚ 37‚ who was a member of hip-hop group Skwatta Kamp. Manqele stabbed him in the chest on March 9 last year in his home in Alexandra‚ Johannesburg. Manqele pleaded not guilty to murder‚ saying she acted in self-defence during a fight between the couple.Her counsel‚ advocate Norman Makhubela‚ argued in the Johannesburg High Court sitting in Palm Ridge that Manqele did not have a propensity for violence.He said she did not act out of anger‚ jealousy or malice when she stabbed Habedi‚ but she believed her life was in danger.“[T]he original victim‚ because they took a decision to assert themselves […] became a villain‚” Makhubela said.Makhubela further said the fact that Manqele had overstepped the bounds of self-defence did not make her a candidate for incarceration.Prosecutor Paul Schutte‚ however‚ argued that the court should impose imprisonment on Manqele.He argued that she had not shown any remorse and had not taken any responsibility for her actions.“She elected not to testify in mitigation‚ [making it] difficult for the state to probe her mind. It makes it difficult to see whether there was true remorse‚” Schutte said. - TMG Digital/TMG Courts and Laws ..

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