Gangster guilty on seven charges including two of murder

A notorious gangster from Lindelani informal settlement, Phumlani Nkosi, has been convicted of all seven counts against him.

Nkosi, who throughout his trial maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty to all his charges, was found guilty by the Pretoria High Court, sitting in the Benoni Magistrate’s Court, on November 22, of two counts of murder and rape, two of assault to cause grievous bodily harm, robbery with aggravating circumstances and attempted murder.

Nkosi initially faced three counts of murder, however, one of the charges was changed to attempted murder due to insufficient evidence.

Acting Judge Ian Cox highlighted that the police did not receive the postmortem results following the death of the doctor.

The 39-year-old was arrested on March 3 after charges were opened against him at the Benoni Police Station in 2011. In court, it was revealed that Nkosi always carried a knife and community members feared him.

Nkosi assaulted a woman in her house at a tavern she owned in the early hours of March 25, 2011, during which a man, Muzi Moletsho, was stabbed twice when he tried to intervene.

During judgement, Judge Cox said prior to the stabbing, Nkosi was chased out of the tavern after he slapped the owner.

After the stabbing, Moletsho’s girlfriend and the owners of the tavern apparently called out his name but he lay bleeding and did not move.

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The judge said Nkosi intended to kill Moletsho when he stabbed him on that fateful night. The owners of the tavern previously testified that they knew Nkosi very well and had taken him as their child because they were originally from the same village.

Second victim

It was revealed that Nkosi approached another victim in December 2020, Sabelo Mthimkhulu, and accused him of stealing his property.

Mthimkhulu apparently denied stealing anything. It is alleged the accused took out a knife and stabbed him in broad daylight. Cox shared that on the day of the incident, Mthimkhulu was holding his dog when he was confronted by Nkosi.

Nkosi apparently wanted to stab Mthimkulu twice but he was disturbed by the dog which attacked him.

Cox questioned why Nkosi didn’t open a case at the police station when he realised that his goods were stolen but instead he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Third victim

On November 19, 2021, at about 23:00, as a couple walked from a tavern to where they were staying, Nkosi, armed with a knife, approached them. The accused stole their cellphones and uttered threats.

He thereafter stabbed and killed Prince Maribe. Nkosi took the girlfriend to another location and raped her. During the trial, Nkosi said he was having a secret love affair with the girlfriend when he was told that DNA tests linked him to the rape.

Cox rubbished claims that the two were in a relationship. “Allegations of the accused person that he had a secret love affair with the complainant was not true and is not accepted. He knows nothing about the complainant.

“His version that they had an agreement to go to the tavern after 19:00 can’t be reasonably possibly true. How does the complainant go to the very tavern with her boyfriend? That is highly unlikely as it would be a recipe for disaster, why would she risk it,” said Cox.

The matter was postponed to January 18 for a pre-sentence report to be compiled on behalf of the accused.

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