Cape Town - The four vigilante taxi drivers convicted for the brutal murder of a suspected thief who was beaten and hanged at the Lwandle taxi rank in 2014 face possible life imprisonment.
Thandowani Nkomo, Howard Mboto, Victor Mbanda and Masithembi Bongani were convicted for the kidnapping, assault and murder of Wanda Njotini in the Strand Regional Court.
Nkomo, Mboto, Mbanda and Bongani were part of KHUPA, a police forum-type association established between 2012 and 2013 in Lwandle in the Strand. Bongani was its chairperson.
The group assisted the police with tracing and apprehending suspects and assisted community members with reporting crimes to the police, and acquiring information from the community that would help with crime-solving.
After some time, the association further evolved and members started to apprehend suspects, accused them of crimes committed without involving the police and interrogated the suspects, before handing them over to the police, said National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila.
“It changed into a vigilante group from a community-based initiative meant to assist with fighting crime,” Ntabazalila said.
In the early hours of February 7, 2014 the four and Keli Malizana, who has since died, went to Njotini’s residence. Njotini was Nkomo’s neighbour and was suspected of committing a crime.
He was found sleeping with his two brothers and was forcefully taken, beaten with knobkerries and loaded into Malizana’s taxi.
“An hour later, Njotini was found in a container at the Lwandle taxi rank, hanging from a beam with his own belt, with his hands tied with his own shoe laces, on a typist chair with wheels to hoist himself from.
“The container was used by KHUPA for meetings and the interrogation of suspects who were often beaten up,” Ntabazalila said.
A post-mortem found that the injuries were not self-inflicted, that the cause of death was by hanging, and that it was impossible that the deceased could have committed suicide.
They were convicted on charges of kidnapping, assault and murder.
Advocate PJ Damon said the men could face possible life imprisonment. He acknowledged the work of the investigating officers who worked tirelessly to ensure a successful prosecution of the case.
“Justice has been served but it's saddening that a well-intended community initiative resulted in the death of a man. Vigilantism cannot be tolerated under any circumstances,” Damon said.
Cape Times