Emotions ran high at Ngwelezana Regional Court on Tuesday when a mother learnt of the brutality suffered by her murdered daughter at the hands of neighbours.

Zethu Mtshali could not hold back her tears when she heard that Thulani Mthembu (46) used a pair of pliers to torture Nontobeko Mtshali (19) during the heinous ordeal.

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Magistrate Ntombizefa Nhleko summarised the sequence of events leading up to the murder of Nontobeko, carried out by Mthembu and his accomplices, Sifiso Mthembu (32), Skumbuzo Shandu (31) and Philani Mthembu (22) on 4 February 2021.

While Sifiso passed away from natural causes, Philani and Skumbuzo turned State witness and testified against their half-brother, Thulani, who faced two counts of kidnapping, assault GBH, murder and defeating the ends of justice.

He was found guilty of kidnapping, murder and assault GBH, and not guilty of defeating the ends of justice.

His bail was cancelled, and the matter was postponed to Tuesday, 31 March for sentencing.

The crime

Handing down her ruling, Magistrate Nhleko said Thulani and his accomplices went to Nontobeko’s homestead in Macekane reserve and abducted her and her friend, Natasha Shandu.

He took them to Ngwelezane where he lived, and bought alcohol and food. Later that evening, the other accused left Thulani’s home with both victims.

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The following day, Thulani informed his accomplices that two of his cellphones were missing, before kidnapping the two women and demanding the cellphones.

Nontobeko produced one of the cellphones with sim card and memory card missing, after which both women were taken into the bushes and severely assaulted.

The assault escalated from a palm frond to pliers and a hammer. All State witnesses corroborated the series of events.

After severely beating Nontobeko with a hammer and pinching her with pliers, Thulani received a phone call and forced the victims into the boot of his vehicle.

The accused were told the police were looking for them, so drove into the sugar cane to discuss their next move.

It was then that Natasha Shandu realised Nontobeko was no longer talking, and discovered that she was dead.

While discussing where to dispose of the body, the accused suggested they needed to kill Natasha and dump both bodies into the Nsezi River.

Thulani’s vehicle then suffered a puncture, so the accused removed the deceased’s body from the boot and dumped it into the bushes.

Thulani then left his accomplices and pretended to be on the phone. While on the road, the police stopped next to the vehicle and ordered them to move it off the road.

After changing the tyre, Thulani threatened to burn down Natasha’s homestead if she ever revealed what had happened.

He told her to say Nontobeko had run away to Mzingazi, and said he had R100 000 to buy a case docket if he was arrested.

Zethu Mtshali said she was traumatised by the manner in which her daughter was killed.

“I am being treated for depression, I lost my job as I could not concentrate on my work. Those who turned State witness are my close neighbours, but they failed to protect my child,” she said.

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