NEWS: Zwelethu Mthethwa Charged with Murder of Twenty-Three-Year-Old Woman:
“Zwelethu Mthethwa has been charged with the murder of a Nokuphila Kumalo, a twenty-three-year-old woman who was found beaten to death on the side of a street in Cape Town. Rebecca Davis of the Daily Maverick reports that the fifty-two-year-old photographer was both captured on CCTV and identified by an eyewitness. While Kumalo—thought to be a possible sex worker—was found dead on April 14, Davis notes that her case has received little media attention as Mthethwa went overseas shortly after the incident, and was arrested upon his return. Mthethwa appeared in court yesterday, and his case was remanded until October 10, when it will be heard in the regional court. Davis reports that the artist is being represented by one of Cape Town’s top criminal lawyers, William Booth. Nosipho Vidima, a lobbyist from the sex worker advocacy group Sisonke, said that the organization had been trying to investigate whether Kumalo was indeed a sex worker. “We don’t want to see any special treatment for [Mthethwa],” she said. “The fact that he’s an artist shouldn’t mean anything to the justice system.”
(Via artforum.com.)