Wife found guilty of orchestrating the slaying of her husband

MBOMBELA – The court heard testimony on how the 48-year-old Vusi Mona, a teacher at Zwelisha Primary School, was murdered.

“Shongwe masterminded the devious plan to kill him,” according to the provincial SAPS spokesman, Brig Leonard Hlathi.

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Hlathi said that detailed evidence emerged in court of how Mona was kidnapped from his home at KaNyamazane by three men. “It was stated under oath that the men pillaged Mona’s yard and demanded an undisclosed amount of cash as well as firearms. They grabbed the cash and forced Mona into his Ford Ranger bakkie, where after they forced him at a nearby ATM to withdraw more money,” Hlathi stated.

“The victim’s lifeless bound body was later discovered inside his car in the suburb of Pienaar with a fatal gunshot wound.  The police acted swiftly following the discovery, and left no stone unturned. The meticulous investigation by the detectives at KaNyamazane SAPS, led to the arrest of Shongwe on murder, conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping as well as robbery with aggravating circumstances charges on March 31, 2017,” Hlathi asserted.

The sterling work done by the detectives in this case leading to the arrest and conviction of Shongwe was commended by Lt Gen Mondli Zuma.

“As the police, we are extremely happy to have such astute members who do not just scratch the surface when conducting their investigations, but go deeper to unearth the truth. These are the kind of members that deserve a pat on the back, because they are so devoted to the uprooting of crime within our society,” Zuma said.

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Shongwe was remanded into custody and will again appear in court on January 31 2020, for sentencing.