The family of the murdered rapper Nkululeko “Flabba” Habedi say they have moved on and have forgiven his killer, Sindisiwe Manqele, who was released on parole on Tuesday.
The family was reacting to the news that the department of correctional services has released Manqele after serving six years of her 12-year sentence.
Flabba’s brother Tshepang Habedi said he was aware of Manqele’s parole as correctional services was in contact with his mother.
“This was bound to happen. She is out. I have healed. I have accepted things a long time ago.
“I’m at peace with the whole thing. My mother, I presume, is also at peace with it. I spoke to her and she said there is nothing we can do. If we dwell on that we will be going backwards.
“We have forgiven her. That is the only way we could move on. If we had not forgiven her we wouldn't move on... It was very hard, trust me, but we had a conversation as a family and made that decision.
“I lost a father. Nkululeko was a father to me after my dad passed away, he came in and filled those shoes. He was a brother, father and a friend. As a family we had to make that decision to forgive in order to move on. We did that a long time ago. It helped us because we would have lived under the umbrella of what Sindi [Manqele] did,” Habedi said.
Manqele stabbed Flabba in March 2015 after an altercation at his home in Alexandra, Johannesburg. He was 37 when he died. His death sent shockwaves through the country with many people wanting the court to be harsh on Manqele.
Flabba was a member of hitmaking hip-hop group Skwatta Kamp.
Correctional services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said: “The decision was taken by the correctional supervision and parole board (CSPB) having assessed Manqele’s profile as submitted by the case management committee and other material presented for the purposes of parole consideration.”
Rapper Siyabonga “Slikour” Metane, who is part of Skwatta Kamp, said he does not even know how to feel about Manqele being a free woman.
“It does not bring back Flabba. It is really about how the family feels, to be quite honest. For me, I do not know her [Manqele]. I have never known her. I am more thinking of the family and how they feel... It does not bring back my friend,” Metane said.
Another artist, Pastor Selwyn Ngwenya, also struggled to express his feelings.
“That is a tough one...I personally do not have any ill feelings against her being released. One thing I know about how she got arrested is that she said her actions were in self-defence. It so happens that Flabba had to suffer because of that...The fact that she is released on parole is lawful and by the book. The law allows it.”
Musician and poet Mzwakhe Mbuli said he would take his cue from the family.
“If the family accepts what has just happened, I will also accept it... My view is that prison makes you or it breaks [you]. Recently we’ve seen people out on parole continuing to commit heinous crimes.
“But if somebody has repented and shown remorse, there is nothing we can do. Let us just respect the decision of the family on this one,” Mbuli said.
Nxumalo said Manqele had showed remorse while serving her sentence.
“Manqele takes responsibility for the offence she committed and is remorseful about it. She completed all the identified programmes as per her correctional sentence plan and participated in victim-offender dialogue in 2018.”
In the same year, she graduated from Unisa with an honour's degree in business management while in prison.
Nxumalo explained that Manqele will still complete her sentence outside.
“It is critical to highlight that parole placement is not the end of the sentence as Manqele will complete the remainder of the sentence in the system of community corrections where she is expected to comply with a specific set of conditions and will be subjected to supervision until her sentence expires on May 23 2028.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.