The trial of Sindisiwe Manqele, the alleged killer of South African rapper Nkululeko ‘Flabba’ Habedi, is set to continue at the High Court today as Manqele has claimed that she acted in self-defence.
Under cross-examination, Manqele admitted that she had intentionally stabbed him but acted in self-defence after Habedi allegedly pinned her on his bed, grabbed her hands and poked and stabbed her five times in the stomach. Manqele said she said she was forced to push and stab Habedi in an effort to flee from him
“At the time that you executed the push-and-stab action, did you foresee the possibility that you would stab him?” Schutte asked her.
“Yes, I wanted to stab him, but I did not foresee where it [the knife] would land,” Manqele had told the court.
Manqele said when she plunged the knife into him, she did not foresee that she would stab him in his heart or lungs.
Manqele claimed she screamed when she saw Habedi staggering after the stabbing.
She grabbed her phone and tried to dial for an ambulance while she unlocked the bedroom door and yelled for help. She then told Habedi’s relatives, who were in the house, that she had killed him by mistake.