The Durban High Court on Wednesday sentenced Siphamandla Enoch Ngcobo (22) to life and 38 years imprisonment after he shot and killed Bongekile Nandipha Khema in April 2019.

Khema was the secretary of the ANC branch executive committee in the Smiso Nkwanyane zone, and the administrator and assistant to the ward councillor in Ward 11. She also operated a tuck-shop from her home.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said there was conflict on how tenders were awarded in the ward. She stated that Khema and the community complained to the ANC regional office, as well as members within the ANC, about this and other irregularities that were taking place, and even threatened to resign.

“On the day of the incident, she was speaking to some community members in her area, when Ngcobo and two accomplices went to the tuckshop, under the pretext of wanting to buy something. She left the community members and went to the tuckshop and when she got there, Ngcobo shot her several times and she died at the scene. Her husband, who was inside the house, ran outside to assist her, but they shot at him too, causing him to run back inside. One of the shots struck a seven-year-old child, who was playing nearby. The child was hit on the side of her chest and taken to hospital and released a few days later,” she said.

Ramkisson-Kara stated that Ngcobo was arrested after cartridge cases found on the scene linked him to the crime and he was identified during an identity parade.

In court, Ramkisson-Kara said the state represented by senior state advocates Elvis Gcweka and Lawrence Gcaba, led the evidence of several eyewitnesses. She mentioned that the state also submitted a victim impact statement, compiled by Khema’s husband, and facilitated by court preparation officer Thandeka Nadi Mofokeng.

“The husband said that his wife was a loving, caring and responsible person who wanted to serve her community at all costs. He still suffers emotional and psychological trauma from the events of that day. His wife’s death has cost him his relationship with his in-laws as they still want answers to her killing,” added Ramkisson-Kara.

Ngcobo was sentenced to life imprisonment, for conspiracy to commit murder and murder, 10 years each for the two counts of attempted murder, 15 years for the unlawful possession of a firearm and three years for the unlawful possession of ammunition. All the sentences will run concurrently.