The Pinetown District Court yesterday sentenced a popular police officer in KwaZulu-Natal, Khephu Ndlovu, to 17 years in prison.
Apart from Ndlovu, there are four others who received the same sentence, including the former police officer, Bonginkosi Dlamini.
Among the five convicted are Khephu Ndlovu, Bonginkosi Dlamini, Sibongile Ndlovu, her husband Felokwakhe Ndlovu and their son Lindokuhle Mbonambi.
They were convicted and sentenced for corruption and bribery of R120 000 in the case of the killing of the leader of the ANC Kwa Ndengezi branch, Mr. Thulani Nxumalo, in 2018.
It is said that Sibongile wanted her husband, Felokwakhe, to escape from the case of murdering Nxumalo.
It is said that to ensure that this happens, Sibongile met Khephu and Dlamini at the Durban Central police station in 2020, and gave them a bribe of R120 000.
It is said that Dlamini was an investigator in the case of Nxumalo’s murder and Khephu was a consultant in the plot to save Felokwakhe. Mbonambi is said to have played a role in hiding the gun that was used to kill Nxumalo. It is said that Nxumalo was killed because he did not agree with the fact that Felokwakhe was selling land owned by the Ngonyama Trust, which was earmarked for community development.
While handing down the sentence yesterday, the Magistrate, Muntukayise Khumalo, said that there were no concrete circumstances that could lead to a change in the sentence reserved for those who committed similar crimes.
He emphasized that the seriousness of the charges meant that he should release the sentence reserved for committing crimes like this.
He highlighted the public humiliation of the convicted police officers.
“Ndlovu (Khephu) and Dlamini were trusted to ensure the safety of the people of South Africa, and then protect criminals. Instead of doing that, they turned on the badge of the army, tampered with the evidence, knowing full well that someone had been killed,” said Khumalo.
He described Felokwakhe and Sibongile as the problem solvers, and said they seem to be the best writers in this tragedy.
“They act as if the law does not exist,” he said.
The court said that it noticed the hard evidence that the State’s witness Piti Langa was killed after giving statements that incriminated Felokwakhe in the murder case.
The magistrate went on to say that Sibongile ordered a witness who will not be named to confirm that Felokwakhe is not close, and threatened that if not, he will be punished, which happened to Langa.
“This leaves questions as to how many other people were killed to protect Felokwakhe,” said Khumalo.
He said the killing of Nxumalo could have caused the unrest as he was a political figure.
He said it was unfortunate that Mbonambi tried to protect his father by hiding the weapon he committed the crime of murder, he said that was a stupid act.
He said those convicted showed no remorse. He said he knows that although Dlamini and Sibongile have been dating for six years, they are the ones who caused the case to be delayed.
Khumalo has decided that all those who have been convicted can have a license to carry firearms.
Felokwakhe is said to be serving his 17-year sentence concurrently with the life sentence for killing Nxumalo.
After the conviction of those convicted, members of the Ndlovu family defied the order of the court police, which said that they are not allowed to contact the defendants. When the members of the KZN Political Killings Task Team tried to intervene, this tired family exploded, and started threatening them, and there was a lot of noise.