Police confirmed the sentences and said the convictions were secured after painstaking investigations by the Provincial Taxi Violence Unit.
Two men involved in taxi-related violence in KwaZulu-Natal will spend the rest of their lives behind bars after the Pietermaritzburg High Court handed them hefty sentences for murder, attempted murder, armed robbery and firearm offences.
35-year-old Zakhele Bhobho Nkosi and 30-year-old Simphokuhle Ayanda Mathe were each sentenced to life imprisonment and an additional combined 90 years behind bars.
The court found the pair guilty of the murder of a taxi owner’s wife, the attempted murder of the owner himself, robbery with aggravating circumstances, as well as unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.
Police confirmed the sentences and said the convictions were secured after painstaking investigations by the Provincial Taxi Violence Unit.
Brutal attack in Nongoma
On 13 March 2021, Nkosi and Mathe stormed into the home of a taxi owner at Emakholweni, Nongoma.
“The two bloodthirsty men ransacked the house, robbed his wife of an undisclosed amount of money and shot her twice in the head before fleeing from the crime scene,” police said.
The victim’s husband, a member of the local taxi association, escaped the attack as he was outside at the time.
Months later, on 17 December 2021, he survived another attempt on his life when gunmen sprayed him with bullets as he entered his home.
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Breakthrough in the case
Investigators made a breakthrough when Nkosi was arrested as a passenger in a minibus taxi in Ulundi.
He was found carrying a firearm with its serial number filed off and 15 rounds of ammunition.
Ballistic analysis revealed that the weapon had been stolen from a police sergeant who was robbed while stranded on the R66 Road in Ulundi.
“Further investigation led to the arrest of Simphokuhle Ayanda Mathe, who was also found in possession of a firearm with serial number erased, and was positively linked to both the murder and attempted murder at Emakholweni,” it said.
Nkosi was sentenced to life for murder, 20 years for armed robbery, 20 years for robbing a police officer, 15 years for possession of a prohibited firearm, and five years for unlawful possession of ammunition.
Mathe received life for murder, 15 years for robbery, and 15 years for attempted murder.
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