The man who allegedly shot and killed his mother and sister before beheading them has pleaded guilty to the double murder. Delisani Mkhize from Mid-Illovo outside Durban in KwaZulu-Natal killed his mother Mathithi Mkhize (87) and sister Celiwe Mkhize (39) on 20 December before dumping their bodies inside a pit toilet. Mkhize was arrested for the murders in December and he appeared at the Pietermaritzburg Magistrates Court for the third time yesterday.

He confessed to the double murder and told the court that he believed that his mother and sister were bewitching him. This, he says was after he was woken up by footsteps of his mother and sister at his house and later saw the two women leaving his home in the early hours of the morning wearing black. This fuelled his suspicions and so he murdered them on the same day. Mkhize (51) told the court: "I admit that I suspected that they were at my place to bewitch me and I took my unlicensed firearm and followed them. I found them at my mother's house which is not far from my house and shot them." He said after shooting them he took out a bush knife and beheaded them before he hid the knife and hit it in the toilet. Mkhize who did not seek the service of a lawyer, also told the court that he had intended to kill both women as he strongly suspected that they were bewitching him.

Shortly after the incident, the police in KZN said that they responded to a shooting and upon arrival at the crime scene, headless bodies were found lying in a pool. A subsequent search inside the yard led to the recovery of the deceased heads which were stashed inside a pit latrine toilet. The shooting was witnessed by a 12-year-old girl who escaped and alerted the neighbours.KZN National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara confirmed that Mkhize appeared in court for the third time since his arrest last year. "The matter was adjourned to 15 March for sentence," she said.