Family of slain MUT lecturer Shan Dwarika comforted by convictions

The daughter of slain Mangosuthu University of Technology lecturer Chanlall “Shan” Dwarika says the family has found a measure of comfort after two men were found guilty of his murder on Wednesday.

Kwanele Makhaye, 29, and Thabani Mhlongo, 23, were convicted of robbery, kidnapping and murder, while Siyabonga Freeman Mahaye, 35, was convicted of kidnapping and robbery. A fourth man, Sihle Mkhize, was acquitted on all charges.

Ayuushi Dwarika-Rajbansi found the judgment fair.

“From Mkhize’s own account I think he was in the wrong company at a wrong place. Without his help we could not have been able to find my dad. We would not have known where he was,” said Dwarika-Rajbansi.

A visibly distressed Rajbansi, trying to hold back her tears, described the trial as being “heavy” on the family.

“It was draining and it was also sad to hear what my father endured. It's very emotional. There is not a day that goes by where we do not think of a different outcome for him in his last moments,” said Rajbansi.

Her distraught mother, Janitha Dwarika, broke down when asked to share memories of her husband or the outcome of the trial. The couple were married for more than 40 years. 

Rajbansi wished the family had known sooner about the harrowing events which led to her father's murder.

“I wish we would have had a fighting chance to have helped him. I guess we will never know why he had to go in this manner. This judgment has given us some solace that the perpetrators haven't gone without punishment,” she said.

Rajbansi, who also took the witness stand during the trial, recalled how she had picked up that transactions had been made in her father’s banking account.

“It was from an INK tavern and that was just suspicious for me. I remember going to my husband and asking him whether these are tavern transactions. Why would my dad go there and the e-wallet being made? He punched the number on his phone because it had true caller and this showed a certain Thabani Mhlongo,” said Rajbansi.

Dwarika, 63, was kidnapped on May 28 2023, and later found dead. His body, according to police spokesperson Col Robert Neshiunda, was found in Mafuya Road in Inanda six days later.

According to the indictment, Dwarika owned a property in Sea Cow Lake while he lived on another property in Verulam, north of Durban. Dwarika was renovating the Sea Cow Lake property as he intended to sell it to a tenant, identified as Pastor Miya. However, renovations were marred by the continued theft of materials.

Judge Khosi Hadebe said the accused had an insatiable appetite for money and saw Dwarika as a cash cow. She said the version presented by the state had set out the role played by each of the accused on the day Dwarika was killed.

She said it may have been possible Dwarika owed them unpaid wages.

“In the court’s mind this was not the only thing which could have been considered for any right-thinking person,” said Hadebe. “More so in the accused's own words: Dwarika would have paid them money once the house was sold. He provided them shelter at a sophisticated abode, they were fed even on the days on which he would not be coming to 51 Maynard road. This is uncontroverted evidence. He trusted them. Unfortunately, this trust cost him his life."

She rejected the defence raised by the accused.

In mitigation of sentence, the defence argued all the accused had minor children and asked the court to consider the time they had spent in custody while awaiting trial. Some of the family members of the accused were in court.

Prosecutor Krishen Shah suggested the court should sentence the accused to 15 years on the charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances and kidnapping while Mhlongo and Makhaye should be sentenced to life imprisonment on all charges.

He said none of the actions of the suspects could be deemed immature or committed in the spur of the moment.

“The accused had taken Dwarika hostage, drove around and held him captive. One can imagine the abject horror Dwarika must have gone through,” said Shah.

He said the suspects were self-serving and had shown no remorse for their actions.

Though Mhlongo had wanted to plead guilty when the trial commenced on October 9 last year, he had failed to indicate his intention during the pretrial. His guilty plea was not genuine or contrite.

He said Mahaye had wanted to extort money from Dwarika but had jumped ship by parting ways with his co-accused before they could commit murder.

“One gets the impression that he knew what was to come,” argued Shah. Conversely, according to Shah, the acquitted Mkhize did not seek to tilt the evidence in his favour and his evidence was corroborated by his employer.

Hadebe adjourned the matter to Thursday for sentencing.

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