Cop killing wife found guilty, sentenced to 20 years

In a bizarre development in the case against the wife of murdered police officer Bongani Sibusiso Xaba, what was expected to be a routine bail application turned into a full confession from the accused.

Hlengiwe Precious Xaba, who was arrested in connection with the murder of her policeman husband, was found guilty in the Ladysmith Regional Court yesterday afternoon (Wednesday) and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment.

This after she wrote an official statement in which she described in detail the premeditated murder. She said she didn’t want to waste the court’s time and was prepared to come clean with the whole story of her involvement in the murder.

She will also be State Witness in the case against her co-accused.

The community filled the Regional Court to witness this fascinating case and little did they know what they were in for… An unexpected confession and sentencing, all in one day. The court room was full to capacity, with family, friends and police colleagues waiting eagerly to hear the confession. Not everyone managed to get in to the courtroom from the packed corridor outside.

The co-accused in the case, 29-year-old Mduduzi Delani Zuma (the alleged boyfriend), will appear again in court tomorrow (Friday) for a bail application. He applied for a lawyer on Wednesday afternoon.

Yesterday’s court proceedings saw 33-year-old Hlengiwe Precious Xaba pleading guilty to murder and explaining to the court how she and her boyfriend planned the attack on 50-year-old Warrant Officer Bongani Sibusiso Xaba. She claims that she lured her husband, W/O Xaba, out of the house under the pretext of going to see a traditional healer in Matiwaneskop on Friday, May 23. She then convinced him to stop along the road on their way back, knowing that her boyfriend was lying in wait. This is when the policeman was brutally assaulted with a bush knife. W/O Xaba died in hospital almost a month later on June 22.

His wife will now spend the next two decades in prison.