The Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma welcomed the arrest of the mastermind behind the murder of a police official, Theresa Mabaso aged 35 and her co accused Wiseman Ngomane aged 28.
The pair were sentenced to life imprisonment each by the Circuit of the North Gauteng High Court which was sitting at Barberton, on Friday 21 September 2018.
Mabaso and Ngomane were found guilty by the same court earlier this year for killing Constable Sifiso Mabuza (37) at Langeloop near Tonga, in March 2013.
The court heard how Mabaso hired three hitmen, Wiseman Ngomane, Victor Sibiya and Sindi Mvubu to execute the crime.
It transpired during the trial that Mabaso accused Mabuza, who was working at Crime Intelligence in Komatipoort, for exposing her after she was arrested for dealing in dagga.
She then hired the trio and paid a deposit of R10 000, which was part of a R46 000 deal. The three hitmen went to the victim’s house where they killed him after a scuffle. Subsequently one of the suspects, Sindi Mvubu pleaded guilty in 2016 and was sentenced to 20 years for murder as well as 18 years for housebreaking, both sentences are running concurrently.
The third hitman, Victor Sibiya, died before the case was finalised. Both Mabaso and Ngomane argued that they were innocent until they were proven guilty by the court, resulting in each receiving a life sentence. Ngomane received a further nine year sentence for housebreaking with the intent to commit murder as well as possession of a firearm and ammunition without a licence.
Between last year and this year, several police officers have been killed in the province, among them are two commissioned officers from the KwaMhlanga Cluster, one was shot and killed while responding to an armed robbery at a filling station while the other died in police holding cells while handling an awaiting trialist. Four others were killed by their partners in domestic related incidences.
The Provincial Commissioner of the Police in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma welcomed the sentence stating that it should send a clear message to criminals that anyone killing a police officer will face the full might of the law.
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