I'd spit on my husband's coffin - widow

A trial depicting the deadly culmination of an allegedly toxic relationship is unfolding in the Eastern Cape‚ according to some of the evidence being led. Guilt or innocence has not been proven as yet. Ahead of the case's resumption in July‚ here is the latest installment:

“The way I no longer care about my husband . . . if he could die‚ I would spit on his coffin‚” said murder accused Bulelwa Ndudula‚ 46‚ in a text message to a family relative‚ just two months before her husband‚ Sakhekile Ndudula‚ 52‚ was shot eight times while inside their East London home.

A WhatsApp message trail presented to the East London High Court on Friday revealed a deeply toxic relationship between Ndudula and her late husband‚ who died in a hail of bullets on September 14 in 2016.

Ndudula has pleaded not guilty of murdering her husband‚ an ANC regional leader and former chief-of-staff at the provincial social development department.

So serious were the problems between them‚ however‚ that just a month before her husband died‚ Ndudula vowed never to set foot in his home village unless one of their two children had died.

In court on Friday‚ a relative of Sakhekile‚ Viwe Dinga‚ 50‚ testified that the couple were experiencing trouble in their marriage.

Dinga testified about a number of text messages between her and Ndudula‚ where claims of infidelity and extramarital affairs were rife.

In the WhatsApp message thread seen by the Daily Dispatch‚ which started in July 2016‚ Ndudula tells her “sister-in-law” Dinga that she has had enough‚ has given up on her marriage and has stopped caring about her husband.

Dinga‚ a close cousin of the dead man‚ told the court the couple were in an unhappy marriage for some time.

Ndudula’s defence is that unknown gunmen entered their home in the morning and gunned down her husband while he was getting ready to go to work.

The message thread presented in court begins on July 13‚ 2016 and ends about five weeks later on August 25‚ 2016‚ with Ndudula pouring her heart out about the alleged infidelity of her husband‚ revealing the couple slept in separate bedrooms.

On July 13‚ she texts that she does not know when God will get around to answering her prayers‚ with Dinga replying that she should continue praying as the Lord was testing her faith.

On August 8‚ Ndudula tells Dinga she has given up on her marriage and Dinga replies that what her husband is doing is intolerable.

“My sister‚ I have told myself that I am already out of this marriage. He will never ever see me setting foot at his home village again‚ unless one of my children died‚” writes Ndudula.

In one message Dinga says Sakhekile is having a crazy adulterous relationship with a much older woman.

The trial‚ which sat for the whole of last week‚ could not be completed‚ and Judge Igna Stretch has set it down to resume from July 9 to 13. It will move from the East London Magistrate’s Court building to the High Court in Vincent‚ East London.

- Report by DispatchLIVE