Makaza, 50,
killed her husband, MaCloud Zvavovaviri Mapanga, a businessman who ran Kurai
Coaches, in a cold-blooded and calculated murder committed at the couple’s
Harare home in 2018. Makaza was found guilty last week of killing her husband
in the early hours of May 14, 2018.
In her ruling,
Justice Muchawa, said the evidence overwhelmingly pointed to premeditation.“Our
findings are that the accused person planned to execute the deceased. To set
this in motion, she travelled to South Africa, soon after her return from the
United Kingdom, to procure the murder weapon,” Justice Muchawa said.
“She
conveniently flew into South Africa and used the road back to smuggle the
murder weapon into Zimbabwe.
“She then
waited for a convenient time. It fell on May 14, 2018 and around 3 am when the
deceased, who had returned from work around 11 pm, was fast asleep. She aimed
at the upper part of his body and delivered three fatal shots to the shoulders
and neck. To cover up her crime, she staged an unlawful entry and robbery.“She
shouted, ‘thief, thief’. She left the deceased seriously injured, without
rendering any assistance or calling the ambulance and slipped away in the
ensuing confusion.
“She went
alone, presumably to lodge a report, but, as confessed, her priority was to
dispose of the firearm and related items, including the gloves which she had
worn when shooting the deceased.
“To sanitise
her disposal trip, the accused passed through Mabelreign Police Station and
reported a robbery. This story was sustained throughout until interrogations
led to her confession and the indications she made leading to the recovery of
the firearm.
“The conduct of
the accused before, during and after the murder led us to unequivocally
conclude that the accused unlawfully and with intent to kill, shot MaCloud
Zvavovaviri (Mapanga).”
She shot her
husband using a 38 Amadeo Rossi revolver, with erased serial numbers. Makaza
first shot Mapanga on the right shoulder, while another bullet hit him above
the left shoulder and a third grazed the neck before penetrating the right
shoulder. She claimed that the intruders had entered the home, shot her husband
and stole US$12,000 from the wardrobe. No signs of forced entry were found and
forensic ballistic analysis later confirmed that the projectiles recovered from
the deceased’s body had been fired from the same firearm she had attempted to
conceal.
The revolver
and gloves were recovered through her own indications.
The court heard
that Makaza had travelled to South Africa on May 2, 2018, where she bought the
gun she used in the murder. After being placed on remand, she was granted bail
but fled to the United Kingdom, only to be re-arrested upon her return in
December 2024.
A post-mortem
examination determined that Mapanga died from traumatic shock, lung and liver
ruptures and shotgun injuries. In her defence, Makaza claimed a long history of
emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her husband, detailing repeated
assaults, forced intimacy, infidelity and psychological trauma. H Metro
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