She stomped him. She hit him with a toy gun. Then she came back with a garden hoe.
And when it was over, the family home was nothing but ashes.
A Durban woman who murdered her own father and then set his body alight will find out on Tuesday whether she spends the rest of her life behind bars.
Nompumelelo Mabaso, 25, from Inanda, pleaded guilty in the Ntuzuma Regional Court to the murder of her father, Dennis Mzimela.
The Midnight Question That Started It All
In her statement to the court, Mabaso said she left a friend's home at midnight on 5 September 2024.
While she was heading home, she came across her father.
He asked her a question that thousands of fathers have asked their daughters — where was she coming from at that time of night?
She did not like it.
The First Attack
Mabaso told the court that an argument broke out between them.
"We got into an argument, and he reached out to catch me. I ran outside the house. He followed me outside. He fell as he was drunk. I then stomped on him several times with my feet, targeting the upper part of his body. He did not retaliate," she stated.
He did not retaliate.
Those four words came from her own statement.
The Toy Firearm
Mabaso then took a toy firearm she had on her and started striking her father on the head with it.
That is when the neighbours came running.
They stopped her from carrying on with the assault.
"They told my father to go inside the house and lock the door. I retreated and went to my friend's house once again. I cooled myself off and went back home. When I went inside the house, I saw my father lying down on the couch," Mabaso said.
She said she went to cool off.
But she did not cool off.
She Came Back
Mabaso told the court she was angered by her father constantly telling her what to do when she is a grown adult.
She said she was still annoyed with him, and that he was still saying things to her that she did not like.
Then she spotted something near the kitchen.
"I then saw the garden hoe near the kitchen. I picked it up and struck him on the head several times. He did not move. I then took a plastic bin bag, placed it over his head, and lit it with matches. The couch on which my father was sleeping caught alight, and soon the whole house was engulfed in flames," Mabaso stated.
Blunt Force Trauma And Charring
The court heard that Mzimela died of blunt force trauma to the head and secondary charring.
Police later arrested Mabaso at a family home nearby.
She pleaded guilty and has remained behind bars at the Department of Correctional Services in Westville.
The Defence: Remorseful And A First-Time Offender
Sakhile Zondi of Legal Aid told the court that during sentencing, the magistrate should take a few things into account.
That Mabaso did not waste the court's time. That she is a first-time offender. And that she is remorseful for what she did.
The Rape Allegation
Mabaso accused her father of raping her.
But Ntuzuma Regional Court prosecutor Kaystree Ramsamujh argued that the sexual abuse allegations could not justify her behaviour, pointing out that no rape case was ever opened against the deceased.
Ramsamujh is calling for a life sentence.
"We Do Not Have A Place Called Home"
In court papers, the family said Mabaso should receive severe punishment for the crimes she committed.
They said she will be safer in prison, because she is not welcome in society.
The sister of the deceased said what Mabaso did was gruesome. She said the whole family was devastated and left in disbelief.
"This damaged us to the core. We lost our brother who was looking after our home. It was heartbreaking to see our home destroyed into ashes, and all of our family members were no longer there. We do not have a place called home and are trying to rebuild it again. He was unemployed; however, whatever he received from his old jobs, he supported his children," Mzimela's sister stated.
She said any punishment Mabaso gets will not bring back her brother, and it will not bring back their home.
Tuesday Is Judgment Day
Magistrate Hein Barnard Visagie is expected to hand down the sentence on Tuesday.
On one side is a guilty plea, a first-time offender, and a defence asking for mercy.
On the other side is a father who was stomped, beaten and burnt inside his own home, a family sitting in the ruins of a house that no longer exists, and a prosecutor asking for life.
By Tuesday afternoon, one of those sides will have its answer.
