Hluphekile Dube and alleged accomplices Nyasha Abel and Isaac Ngoma all face charges of first degree murder and a possible death sentence if convicted.

The three will go on trial on October 23 – bringing to a staggering 12 Zimbabweans currently on trial for murder there.

Dube is the first Zimbabwean woman to be tried for murder in Botswana which has witnessed an influx of Zimbabwean migrants fleeing an unprecedented economic collapse at home.

They go on trial at the Lobatse High. The trio is charged with the murder of Rawjbhai Patel, an Indian citizen for whom Dube worked as a maid in Gaborone’s Extension 4.

The three will also face robbery charges after allegedly making off with Patel’s jewellery, bags, P2,000 cash, US$1,000 cash and a cheque of 151,050 Indian rupees following the crime.

Prosecutors say Patel was killed two days before he was due to return home to India.

Four men are due to stand trial for waylaying a woman as she walked to a funeral along the Orapa/Francistown Road, robbing her of her mobile phones and money before killing her.

Another quartet is also on trial for their lives for the murder of a South African businessman in Oodi Village, north of the capital, Gaberone. Another Zimbabwean man is on trial for shooting and killing a security guard in Francistown.

Failing to secure jobs, Zimbabweans resort to crime for make ends meet. About 3000 of them are deported each week but they soon sneak back through illegal entry points dotted around the border.