The Pietermaritzburg High Court has sentenced a 24-year-old man to 22 years behind bars for killing a police officer.
55-year-old Sergeant Nokuthula Somani was shot and killed in Umzimkhulu in July. She was stationed at Umzimkhulu police station and was off duty when the incident happened.
“Somani was sitting in the lounge at her Umzimkhulu home when two suspects entered the house and shot her multiple times. The suspects fled on foot, and she died at the scene,” said Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo, the police spokesperson.
Mhlongo said the case was investigated by members of the Hawks and 24-year-old Siyabonga Mbhele was arrested in July.
In his plea, Mbhele said he was contacted by a traditional healer was given the task of finding a hitman. He said once he found a hitman, they were sent to kill Somani for R60 000.
Mbhele claimed that that the traditional healer told them that she was practicing witchcraft and was linked to multiple murders.
Mhlongo said Siomani’s younger sister Bongeka Somani, 42, was also arrested for her alleged involvement in the killing and she is still in police custody.
Bongeka is expected to appear in the Unzimkhulu Magistrate’s Court on 7 September 2022.
In a separate incident, an off-duty security officer was allegedly killed for his firearm in Canelands, north of Durban.
Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo, the police spokesperson said Verulam police were called to Station Road at Canelands where a 35-year-old man was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds.
“His pistol was taken during the incident,” Ngcobo alleged at the time.
“A case of murder was opened at Verulam for further investigation.”
Source: IOL, East Coast Radio, image from IOL