The Mpumalanga Division of the High Court has sentenced 41-year-old Nkosinathi Fazo Khumalo to life imprisonment for a string of violent crimes that left a community in shock.

According to Mpumalanga News, Khumalo was convicted on five charges – including murder, housebreaking with intent to commit robbery, and three counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances – following a crime spree that began on June 18, 2020.

NPA provincial spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said Khumalo shot and killed Amos Mathabathela Mgwenya, a former security guard at Mthayiza Primary School in Bhuga Trust, Nsikazi District. He then broke into the school’s computer lab, stealing computers and other electronic equipment.

“In a separate incident, Khumalo, along with unidentified accomplices, robbed employees at the Mhala Post Office at gunpoint, stealing cash and cellphones,” Nyuswa said. Khumalo was later arrested in connection with an unrelated matter. Forensic evidence subsequently linked him to both the school shooting and the armed robbery.

Although Khumalo pleaded not guilty, state Advocate Senzo Zindela led compelling evidence that resulted in a conviction. A post-mortem confirmed that Mgwenya had died from multiple gunshot wounds. “Zindela emphasised that Khumalo showed no remorse and had brutally murdered a man who was serving his community,” Nyuswa added.

Victim impact statements presented in court detailed the psychological and emotional trauma experienced by Mgwenya’s wife and children.

Delivering the sentence, Judge Johannes Hendrickus Roelofse said communities have a right to live in safety and security, and found no compelling reason to depart from the prescribed minimum sentence.

Khumalo received the following sentences: Life imprisonment for murder; five years for housebreaking with intent to commit robbery; and 15 years for each of the three counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances. All sentences are to run concurrently with the life term.

Khumalo was also declared unfit to possess a firearm. His application for leave to appeal both the conviction and sentence was dismissed following the state’s objection.

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