The axe was presented as evidence in the trial of former rugby player Phindile Joseph Ntshongwana.

The police’s Detective Warrant Officer Marius van der Looy testified that he was part of the investigation team established on March 23 2011, following a spree of axe killings around Durban suburbs last year.

Ntshongwana was arrested five days later at his home in Yellowwood Park, southwest of Durban. Van der Looy described the axe before the court “as a small hatchet and not a big axe as one used to cut wood”.

He estimated the axe to be between 30cm to 35cm in length, while he estimated the tip of the blade to be between 6cm to 8cm long.

While searching the house for evidence on the day of Ntshongwana’s arrest, Van der Looy was called by another officer who notice a “rotten smell” towards the back of the house.

The smell appeared to be coming from a dog kennel.

Van der Looy subsequently found the axe as well as other evidence, including black and orange refuse bags and other packets containing clothing and shoes, at the house.