Why did Percy Khoza murder Mary-Lee Macumbe?

As the trial of convicted murderer Percy Khoza slowly draws to an end‚ the family of the young woman whom he bludgeoned to death are still left with unanswered questions.

Mary-Lee Macumbe’s mother‚ Suzan Langa‚ who has attended court proceedings religiously‚ is still battling to understand what led to Khoza brutally murdering her child.

“We don’t have a clue as to why he killed her. That is the million dollar question for us‚” Langa told TimesLIVE on Monday.

She was speaking after sentencing proceedings for her daughter’s killer were postponed on Monday in the Johannesburg High Court for both the defence and State to argue which section of the law would be applicable for Khoza to be sentenced under.

Macumbe suffered almost 40 stab wounds‚ mostly on her neck‚ and was found stuffed in the boot of her own vehicle which was dumped in Malvern‚ Johannesburg‚ in 2014.

Khoza and Macumbe were scheduled to meet that day and had been planning on heading to East Gate.

His version to the court was that his girlfriend at the time‚ Kgomotso Masemola‚ had stabbed Macumbe in a jealous fit of rage after finding her at his Troyville home.

He claimed that Masemola had threatened to harm his daughter if he did not assist her in cleaning up the crime scene and disposing of the body.

He obliged.

But this is a version which the court rejected when it found Khoza guilty several months ago.

One of the strong elements which led to the court rejecting Khoza’s version were Masemola’s cellphone records which contradicted Khoza’s testimony.

Masemola‚ who testified against the father of her child during the trial‚ was arrested shortly after Macumbe’s death and was found in possession of the dead woman’s phone.

She was released after it was found that she had been given the cellphone by Khoza and that at the time‚ she had no idea that it once belonged to Khoza’s victim.

On Monday‚ the Macumbe and Masemola families sat together on one side of the court while Khoza’s mother and a young woman believed to be his new girlfriend‚ occupied the other side of the court.

“We are ok with the Masemola family‚” said Langa.

“We could all see during the trial that Kgomotso was telling the truth‚” said Langa.

After court proceedings‚ the two families brought together by the tragedy of the murder‚ walked out of court together‚ not uttering a word to Khoza’s family.

Khoza‚ who had pleaded not guilty to the crime‚ has seemingly made peace with the fact that he will be spending quite some time behind bars.

On Monday‚ he told the court that as he had anticipated that he would be sentenced today‚ he had made an appointment to be seen by a doctor‚ who deals with convicted prisoners‚ on Wednesday.

“So you were prepared to already be in prison?” questioned Judge Cassim Moosa.

“It’s quite clear‚ sir‚” responded Khoza‚ dressed in a blue sweater with a gold chain dangling around his neck.

His matter returns to court on Wednesday.