The Ntuzuma Regional Court has handed down significant prison sentences to two men for the 2021 murder of Warrant Officer Maqhawe Sithole. Thembokwakhe Xulu (27) and Nkululeko Ntuli (29) were sentenced on Monday, 6 October 2025, bringing a four-year legal process to a close.
The court heard that on the evening of 24 June 2021, Warrant Officer Sithole (54) was playing snooker with a friend at a tuckshop in the Amatikwe area of Inanda. He briefly went outside to meet his partner. After the partner departed, an argument ensued between Sithole and the two accused.
The confrontation turned deadly when Xulu and Ntuli fired several shots at the police officer. They then robbed him of his official service pistol before fleeing the scene. Sithole was rushed to a hospital for medical attention but succumbed to his injuries two days later. A murder case was subsequently opened at the Inanda police station.
A swift investigation led by members of the Durban Serious Organised Crime Investigation unit, in collaboration with Durban Public Order Policing, resulted in the arrest of Thembokwakhe Xulu on 29 June 2021. As the investigation continued, police apprehended the second accused, Nkululeko Ntuli. During his arrest, Ntuli was found in possession of two unlicensed firearms.
Ballistic tests later confirmed one of the firearms was the state-issued pistol stolen from Warrant Officer Sithole. The second firearm was positively identified as the weapon used to murder him.
The accused were denied bail and remained in custody from their arrest until their conviction on 25 July 2025.
In sentencing, the court imposed a 13-year imprisonment term on Thembokwakhe Xulu for the murder conviction.
Nkululeko Ntuli received multiple sentences: 13 years for murder, 5 years for the theft of a state firearm, 13 years for possession of the first unlicensed firearm, and a further 13 years for possession of the second unlicensed firearm. The court ordered that 16 years of his total sentence run concurrently with the other terms, resulting in an effective prison term of 28 years.
