A 30-year-old man with no fixed address has been remanded in custody after appearing in court in Gwanda charged with murder and two counts of rape.

Nqobani Ncube, of no fixed abode, appeared before Gwanda magistrate Brenda Kachepa on the murder charge. He was not asked to plead and was remanded in custody to 3 November, according to the Daily News, The Herald and Bulawayo24. The Daily News, which describes him as a squatter, says the appearance was on Thursday.

The allegations

Ncube is alleged to have been living in a tent on a mountain on the outskirts of Gwanda town, The Herald reports.

In the murder case, Gwanda District public prosecutor Shepherd Moyo told the court that on 26 September Ncube allegedly approached a man from behind as he walked home from work along a dirt road through the Gwanda Solar Project farm in Spitzkop North. The State alleges that the man was stabbed once and that his bag, holding a mobile phone and R20, was taken. He died before he could be taken to hospital, the court heard, according to The Herald and Bulawayo24.

In the rape case, prosecutor Ngonidzashe Shumba alleged that on 14 October Ncube abducted a 23-year-old woman near abandoned houses close to Mount Gazallet, threatened her with a knife and held her for two days. The State says she freed herself, flagged down a taxi on the Beitbridge-Gwanda road and reported the matter. The court heard she later led officers to a shack, where Ncube was arrested.

Zimbo Grapevine is not naming the complainant or the man who died.

The rape counts

The Herald reports that Ncube pleaded guilty to the two rape counts before Gwanda regional magistrate Sithembiso Ndebele and was remanded in custody to Friday 23 October for sentencing. Bulawayo24 reports the same. We have not been able to confirm what happened at that hearing.

Wider investigation

ZBC News reported that Ncube was arrested on Monday 19 October and that police were investigating him in connection with three murder cases in Matabeleland South, at Esigodini, Colleen Bawn and Gwanda, as cited by the Maitengwe Post. The prosecution's account in court gives the arrest date as Saturday 17 October. Police have not publicly set out what links him to the other two cases, and he has not been charged over them.

Why it matters

The murder charge has not been tested in court, and Ncube is presumed innocent of it unless and until a court finds otherwise.

What we don't know yet

Whether Ncube was sentenced on the rape counts on 23 October.

Whether he will face further charges over the other cases police are investigating.

Whether he has a lawyer, and what his defence to the murder charge will be.

Sources: Daily News (Yvonne Ncube), 24 Oct 2026: https://dailynews.co.zw/suspect-faces-rape-murder-charges/ · The Herald / Herald Online: https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/serial-rape-and-murder-suspect-in-gwanda-court/ · Bulawayo24: https://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-national-byo-267722.html · Maitengwe Post citing ZBC News, 20 Oct 2026: https://maitengwepost.com/article/1174-gwanda-man-arrested-over-three-murder-cases