Gripping account in KwaMbonambi ‘cop killer’ case

The murder trial of a KwaMbonambi warrant officer and his friend is ongoing at Mtubatuba High Court, and is set to continue today (Monday).

Nkosinathi Ntinga and Mpendulo Mdluli were on 1 August 2023 kidnapped from Ntinga’s Phathane homestead and killed, with Ntinga’s body found near the Msunduzi River in the eTeza area.

Former KwaMbonambi police sergeant Ntombizodwa Ntinga (44), who stands accused with another of killing her husband and Mdluli, intends to deny she had an extramarital affair with a third suspect in the matter.

This allegation is contained in the State’s indictment of the two charges of murder, one of robbery with aggravating circumstances and three of kidnapping against Ntinga and her co-accused Samkelo Mpanza (33).

ALSO READ: ‘Cop killer’ co-accused to plead guilty – but not to murder charge

In his admission of guilt to robbery and kidnapping, Mpanza states Mira Khoza – a Mozambican national who has reportedly been arrested in his home country for a separate issue – had told him of the affair, an allegation echoed by Zungu during his testimony on Tuesday last week.

Cross-examining Thomas Zungu, who was initially arrested as an accused but has since turned State witness, on his contradictory statements – one made soon after his arrest in August 2023 and another made later that month – Ntinga’s legal counsel said his client intends to deny being in a relationship with Khoza, and that she had met with him and Zungu in Richards Bay, as the latter had testified in court.

The court had heard from Zungu that he had been contacted by Khoza to provide transport for him and Mpanza back to their homes after the crimes had been commissioned.

Zungu’s Tuesday testimony was followed by that of Lindani Ndimande, who shed a tear when shown photograph exhibits of Ntinga’s body, who was with Nkosinathi and Mdluli, as well as the accused wife during the attack.

The crimes

As the trial continued on Wednesday, a police officer who was part of the team that arrested the accused was brought in to testify.

Sergeant Malusi Mkhize, neighbour of the late Nkosinathi and his wife, gave testimony about the day Ntombizodwa – ’emotional and in tears’ – alerted him to the robbery and kidnappings, and what transpired next.

He said he got the ball rolling by notifying colleagues of the crime and to track the vehicle in which the deceased were kidnapped.
Via the tracking company, the team was led to the eTeza area near the Msunduze River.

The vehicle was, however, found abandoned some 5km away in a sugar cane field.

While searching the field for the car keys and other evidence, Mkhize said another team, which had remained near the river, found Nkosinathi’s body.

Local farmers were asked to pull up surveillance footage to determine what other vehicles were in the area where the body was found.
A white Ford Ranger, later determined as belonging to Khehla Mthethwa, and a double cab Toyota, later determined as belonging to Zungu, were seen on the footage.

On viewing the footage, Mkhize said the police team traced, located then questioned and apprehended Mthethwa, who told the officers Mpanza had hired him to provide transport to Phathane where a robbery of an officer would take place.

This led to Mpanza’s arrest, who initially fled but, once detained, told the police he had been hired by Ntombizodwa to carry out the robbery of her husband.
Confession

Investigating officer, Captain Qaphelani Xolani Mdluli, told the court that Ntombizodwa initially denied her involvement, but once the name Mira Khoza was mentioned, she responded with an ‘eish’ and asked to tell the truth.

“That is when she confessed what had happened,” testified Mdluli.

He said Ntombizodwa also confessed to two of his colleagues, who he pulled in to make the confession formal.

The court heard from Mdluli that the confession was a result of Ntombizodwa being confronted with information that her co-accused had been arrested by

KwaMbonambi police and had told them that he and Khoza had been hired by her to murder her husband.

Mdluli told the court how, through cellphone records, communication between Mpanza, Khoza, Khehla Mthethwa and Zungu on the day of the crime was obtained.

Also included in Mdluli’s testimony were cellphone records of communication between Ntombizodwa and Khoza dating back to 9 June 2023.

“I wanted to show that even before Mr Ntinga was murdered, accused one was communicating with Mira Khoza,” testified Mdluli.

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