Siphamandla Gumede has been sentenced to life imprisonment for killing a school security guard. He received additional sentences for two people he killed in 2018.
Image: File
The Pietermaritzburg High Court on Friday described Siphamandla Gumede, 31, as an arrogant, heartless contract killer as it sentenced him to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of school security guard, Bongani Mhlongo.
Gumede, who displayed a lack of remorse throughout the trial, received an additional 15 years for each of the murders of Simo Luthuli and Edwin Zungu. He killed Luthuli and Zungu in December 2018 and Mhlongo in February 2024 at Mafunda Secondary School.
Judge Robin Mossop determined that Gumede's motive was financial, citing the absence of any apparent personal connection between the killer and his three victims. Furthermore, the judge noted Gumede's five previous murder convictions and criticised his conduct during the proceedings.
“You have sat in the dock and shown no real interest in what was being said about your conduct. You gave some instructions to your counsel from time to time, but on the whole, you seemed to have been bored by the proceedings,” Judge Mossop stated.
He noted that Gumede has shown no remorse or regret for what he did. He said the victim impact statements from the families of the deceased were tremendously upsetting to hear and read. Yet, Gumede displayed no reaction whatsoever: “Your air of studied boredom remained.”
The judge described Gumede as an incredibly dangerous man who would not hesitate to act violently.
“You must be made to disappear from society lawfully and taken to a place where other societal outcasts are kept. The community is not safe with you,” Judge Mossop told Gumede.
He explained that the 2018 murders were charged in terms of Section 51(2) of the Criminal Law Amendment Act (the Act), which provides for a minimum sentence of 15 years imprisonment for a first offender upon conviction.
“Given that counts one and two (2018 murders) appear to have preceded the other murders you committed, I am obliged to find you to be a first offender in respect of these two counts,” Judge Mossop explained.
On Mhlongo’s murder, Gumede was charged in terms of Section 51(1) of the Act, which demands a minimum sentence of life imprisonment upon conviction.
The court found Gumede’s personal circumstances — having three children and growing up fatherless — not exceptional enough to warrant deviation from the minimum sentences.
Judge Mossop also declared Gumede unfit to possess a firearm and imposed a concurrent fine of R300 or 30 days imprisonment for the common assault of Siphamandla Ngwenya, Luthuli's nephew.
All sentences will run concurrently with the life terms he is currently serving for the five murder convictions he received in 2025.