The widower of one of the six people who were murdered allegedly by their cop relative who bagged about R1.4m in policies, for the first time saw the woman behind his wife's killing.
Jabu Nhlapo on Tuesday came face-to-face with his wife Zanele Motha's alleged murderer — Const Nomia Rosemary Ndlovu.
Though Ndlovu was arrested in 2018, Nhlapo told Sowetan that he was not aware of the arrest or court case until Monday night when he read a story about the trial.
Motha was Ndlovu's niece, but Nhlapho told Sowetan that he had never met her.
Sitting in the front row in the court gallery, Nhlapo quietly starred at Ndlovu as he listened to her testimony attentively in the high court in Johannesburg sitting in the Palm Ridge magistrate’s court.
“I knew of her but had never met her,” said Nhlapo. My wife told me that she was a lovely person but that their family was big and that she did not really know her that well.”
Nhlapo said he was left gobsmacked when he found out that Ndlovu was allegedly behind his wife's killing. “When she died, we didn't know who was behind it. But on Monday when I found out, I was left frustrated and emotional as if her death has just been announced again,” he said.
Nhlapo said he could not go to work on Tuesday because he wanted to confirm that indeed Ndlovu was standing trial for Motha's death.
Ndlovu is facing a string of cases, including six murders — that of Witness Madala Homu (cousin), Audrey Somisa Ndlovu (sister), Yingwani Maurice Mabasa (boyfriend), Zanele Motha (niece), Mayeni Mashaba (nephew) and Audrey’s son Brilliant Mashego.
Ndlovu has pleaded not guilty to the murder and several other charges ranging from attempted murder, fraud and defeating the ends of justice.
During court proceedings, Ndlovu's disposition oscillated between annoyance and defiance. In between proceedings, she waved at the media to refrain from taking images of her but earlier, she had posed for pictures with her mask off.
Ndlovu was arrested in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, in March 2018 during a sting operation in which she had allegedly hired two hitmen to murder her mother, Maria Mushwana, her sister Joyce Ndlovu and her five children.
During her testimony, Ndlovu refuted the testimony of Njabulo Kunene, one of the hitmen she allegedly hired to kill the relatives.
Kunene revealed the plot to carry out the mass murders.
During his testimony, Kunene told the court that Ndlovu had informed him and the undercover police officer, W/O Sithole, that they should not shoot or stab her relatives because the insurance would not pay out.
Ndlovu is expected to continue with her testimony today.
Once she's done, Mushwana, who was also allegedly on the hit list, is expected to testify in her defence.
Her brother Director Ndlovu is also expected to take the stand in her defence.
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