A Police Constable who shot and killed his wife outside a school in East London three years ago has been sentenced to 24-years in prison.
On the 22nd of June, 2018, 47-year-old Zandisile Zweni shot his 36-year-old estranged wife Andiswa at the Voorpos Primary school where she was a member of the School Governing Body.
Constable Zweni, who was stationed at the Kidds Beach police station at the time of the murder, killed his wife while on duty.
A spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority Anelisa Ngcakani said the couple were separated at the time.
During the trial, Zweni pleaded guilty to murder but said he was not in his right state of mind as he did not intend to kill his wife, nor could he remember all the details.
Ngcakani says the court, therefore, changed Zweni's plea to not guilty and ordered him to undergo observation at the Fort England Psychiatric Hospital in Makhanda where he was declared fit to stand trial.
She says Zweni accused his wife of verbally abusing him which provoked him to kill her.
Judge Bantubonke Tokota subsequently found him guilty of murder on Tuesday.
The Judge said Zweni showed remorse throughout the trial and also asked his children to forgive him.
Judge Tokota said that his remorse and prospects for rehabilitation were substantial and compelling circumstances for him to deviate from sentencing Zweni to the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment for premeditated murder.
