JOHANNESBURG – The High Court sitting in Randburg has found Sindisiwe Manqele guilty of the murder of rapper Nkululeko ‘Flabba’ Habedi.
The judgment was handed down in the murder case against Manqele, who was accused of killing her rapper boyfriend.
Judge Solly Sithole says an assessment of her actions shows that she intended to kill Habedi.
The rap star was stabbed to death in his bedroom at his Alexandra home in March this year.
Habedi’s mother broke down in court Sithole announced his guilty verdict.
An equally emotional Manqele was comforted by her legal representatives as she now faces the prospect of a lengthy prison sentence.
State prosecutors accused Manqele of killing Flabba out of jealousy.
The judge has found the convicted murderer account that she stabbed Habedi in self-defence cannot be taken to be reasonably possibly true.
He says the force she used to plunge a steak knife into his chest does not match the extent of the threat she claims he posed to her life.
The 26-year-old’s lawyers argued that she was defending herself after being beaten and tortured by the rapper.
Judge Solly Sithole said it was a crime of passion and a relationship characterised by unhealthy disputes.
“She expressed her love for the deceased. That is why she explained her actions thereafter, that she didn’t want him to die.”
State Prosecutor Paul Schutter says Manqele was simply jealous after seeing Habedi talking to an ex-girlfriend.
“She also falsely denied that she was upset about this whole incident.”
However, Manqele’s lawyers said her actions were not driven by passion, jealousy or rage.
The court is now hearing a request by her lawyers to have her bail extended until tomorrow.
