Justice has been served following the convictions of four men for the murders of law enforcement officers, Simtembile Nyangiwe and Jan Nieuwenhuys, who were shot and killed inside their marked vehicle in Samora Machel in 2019.
The law enforcement officers were guarding a construction site in Sweet Homes when they were killed.
Ndumiso Lutshetu, Ashwin Kennedy, Bongani Mvamveki, and Malibongwe Witbooi were last week convicted of murder, robbery, and the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition in the Western Cape High Court.
According to court papers, 21 cartridges were collected from the scene which was fired from a 9mm Parabellum calibre Glock model 19 semi-automatic pistol with the serial number erased.
Court documents detail that on September 4, 2019, two law enforcement vehicles were posted to guard a construction site at Sweet Homes, Samora Machel next to Vukuzenzele.
The two vehicles had two officers in each. The officers were guarding the site and protecting the workers doing duty for Usher Construction.
About 30 minutes after Nieuwenhuys and Nyangiwe came back from lunch at 1pm, gunshots went off.
At the time, a colleague of the deceased saw construction workers running away from the direction where Nieuwenhuys and Nyangiwe were parked.
Nyangiwe was lying next to the vehicle and Nyangiwe’s firearm was missing. Nieuwenhuys was still inside the vehicle but they could not see who shot or whether the person or persons were on foot or driving a vehicle as he and Guleni were on the other side of the construction site at the time of the shooting.
A tipoff from an informant of a seasoned Warrant Officer and Commander of the Crime Prevention Unit at Samora Machel SAPS led authorities to the suspects.
“(The warrant officer) had just left the scene for about five minutes, to drive around to see if they could not see the suspects, when he received a call from his informer of many years who usually provided reliable information. The information provided by the informer related to that shooting and (he) arranged to meet the informer. About 10 minutes after the call, they met. Without wasting time, (the officer) arranged with his team and the soldiers, who were at the time supporting the police in the area and held a quick briefing at Samora Machel SAPS about his information and the need to urgently attend to a place. The information was that the suspects were in a shack in a squatter camp,” court papers read.
The men pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Judge Daniel Thulare found the evidence did not support a police conspiracy against the accused.
“The evidence pointed to the success of reliable information passed by a member of the public to the police, upon which the police swiftly acted. I find that in the shack (the officer) found the firearm which had been issued to Nyangiwe, and live ammunition, on accused 1. (Another officer) found a magazine with live rounds of ammunition on accused 2. This must be approached against the background that when the occupants of the shack realised that it was the police who were entering the shack, they tried to get rid of the firearms on them.
“The evidence of the accused that they were not searched in the shack is false. Police officers are generally well trained to deal with life threatening situations. The police who attended to the shack approached the shack well informed that the occupants thereof were armed and were allegedly involved in the shooting of law enforcement officers and had robbed those officers of their firearms. I accept the version of the police that even their approach to the shack was what they termed a ‘tactical approach’, which required alertness and the highest consciousness to safety and an element of surprise.
“The version of the accused changed as it suited them. I find that the State had proved its case against all 4 accused beyond reasonable doubt.”
Mayco member for safety and security, JP Smith welcomed the convictions.
“We are grateful that justice has prevailed, although the loved ones of these officers have waited more than five and a half years for this moment. It is cold comfort as the verdict will never right the horrific act of extreme violence that was perpetrated against the officers who were serving the community. We find a semblance of solace in the fact that those responsible are paying for the deeds, and call on the court to impose the maximum sentence possible,” he said.
Cape Times