KZN Manager Accused of Killing Female Worker, Burying Her in His Yard, Makes 2nd Court Appearance

• The call centre manager accused of murdering and burying his worker's body in a shallow grave in Inanda appeared for a second time in Durban Magistrate's Court
• Mfanafuthi Kunene abandoned his bid for bail when he appeared in court on 6 January 2024, two days after the alleged abduction and murder
• Kunene is believed to be the last person who saw Ayabonga Mjilo, 21, alive after leaving a popular Umhlanga restaurant with her on 23 December 2024

Tshepiso Mametela is a seasoned journalist at Briefly News. A Head of Current Affairs, Mametela reported live from the presidential inauguration of Cyril Ramaphosa and has written articles on politics, crime, courts, accidents and other topics, including sports, at The Herald and Opera News SA, among others.

DURBAN — Mfanafuthi Kunene, the call centre manager who allegedly strangled and buried Ayabonga Mjilo in a shallow grave in his backyard in Inanda, appeared in the Durban Magistrate's Court.

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His appearance on Wednesday, 26 February 2025, was his second since his arrest after police made the gruesome discovery on Sunday, 4 January 2024.

Alleged murderous manager in court

Kunene abandoned his bail bid during his subsequent court appearance two days later.

Mjilo, 23, was reported missing on Christmas Day after being seen alive last in Kunene's company. On Monday, 23 December 2024, the pair reportedly left Capello, a restaurant in Umhlanga, north of Durban, together.

Police opened a kidnapping case on 25 December after she did not return home.

KZN police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said an investigation led law enforcement to Kunene, 37, who was Mjilo's manager.

According to her missing person poster, Mjilo previously worked at Nutun, a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company and, most recently, Webhelp.

Netshiunda said the pair reportedly had an argument, and Kunene allegedly strangled her before burying her body.

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He faces kidnapping, murder and defeating the ends of justice charges.

In an X post, outside court, gender lobby groups called for him to be denied bail, and vowed to continue intensifying their call to ensure it isn't.

Gretta Govender, the gender desk secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), said conditional release should not be an option.

She said the union hoped the case would deter would-be perpetrators from committing similar offences.

"We're pleading with government departments to ensure perpetrators get harsher sentences [and we condemn] GBV in all its forms, whether against men or women," said Govender.

The court postponed the case until 27 March for further investigations. Kunene remains behind bars.

Teen girl's remains found in shallow grave

In a related story, Briefly News reported that police exhumed a teenage girl's body from a shallow grave in Pudimoe near Taung in the North West on Saturday, 11 January 2025.

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Preliminary investigations indicated Boingotlo Makaota was violently murdered and then buried.

"Information about a possible murder was received on 10 January. A resident reported hearing a woman crying from a neighbour's house the night before," said police spokesperson Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone.

Source: Briefly News