Durban — Two brothers are expected in court again next week for the kidnapping and murder of a KwaZulu-Natal sergeant.
Hawks KZN spokesperson Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo said that on Monday, February 27, members of the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation unit in Pietermaritzburg working together with Crime Intelligence and Ladysmith K9 arrested two suspects for the kidnapping and murder of Sergeant Sandile Mgabhi, 39.
Mhlongo said on February 19, 2023, Mgabhi was off-duty sitting with his friends when a quarrel between him and a friend, Mduduzi Ndawonde, 33, allegedly ensued. Ndawonde and his brother, Muziwezinsizwa Ndawonde, 42, forcefully took Mgabhi to an unknown place.
“Mgabhi’s vehicle was found at the service station with blood stains,” Mhlongo said.
“Two days later Mgabhi’s lifeless body was found with a stab wound on his chest.”
Mhlongo said that a case of murder was reported at the Colenso police station.
“A joint operation was conducted where two suspects were arrested yesterday (Monday),” Mhlongo said.
He said the brothers briefly appeared in the Colenso Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday and were remanded in custody.
“The case was postponed to March 7, 2023,” Mhlongo said.
Meanwhile, in another matter, two brothers charged with the murder of a Phoenix police sergeant will know their fate in April when the Ntuzuma Magistrate’s Court is due to give judgment in their case.
Brothers Nkosikhona and Kusakwendoda “Simplex” Luthuli shot and killed Sibongile Thelma Mbanjwa in 2021 when she was with her co-worker and lover, Sergeant WS Dlungwana, in a parked vehicle on Ndwedwe Road in Verulam.
The siblings were charged with murder, attempted murder and attempted robbery with aggravating circumstances.
The pair allegedly tried to rob Mbanjwa and Dlungwana who had parked their VW Polo on a side road “for some romantic alone time”.
It is said that the brothers were being driven in another vehicle on the same side road. They parked their vehicle a short distance from the couple’s car and approached the VW Polo, leaving the driver behind.
While the couple “was engaged” with each other in their car the armed assailants accosted them and made demands. At that point Dlungwana tried to drive off in a desperate attempt to escape, but the accused fired shots that killed Mbanjwa and the car crashed into a boulder.
Dlungwana exited the car and fled, hiding in a sugar cane field. The brothers tried to find him but could not.
The assailants left the scene in the car they had arrived in while Dlungwana lay in hiding and a lifeless Mbanjwa was still in the Polo. The State said a subsequent post-mortem of Mbanjwa’s body established the cause of death as “gunshot wounds”.
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