Johannesburg -
Phumlani Ncube had planned to take his son for lunch on the day he was killed. His bullet-riddled body was found dumped in a field last July.
On Tuesday, Radovan Krejcir and three others were charged with Ncube’s murder when they appeared on a separate charge of conspiracy to murder.
The Star revealed last week that the Czech fugitive had been linked to Ncube’s murder through a gun used in another high-profile assassination last year.
A source close to the investigation told The Star that Krejcir had sent Ncube to Sandton to sell Krugerrands for him.
“Instead of delivering the R50 000 he got for the Krugerrands, Ncube did not go back to give Krejcir the money as agreed. Krejcir then instructed his people to hunt him down and kill him.
“As he approached Louis Botha Avenue in Hillbrow, he was stopped by a police officer under the pretext he was under arrest,” said the source.
The police officer, whose name is known to The Star, will also be charged once an identity parade has been conducted.
Ncube’s car was found abandoned in Pretoria and a message was sent from his cellphone to one of his friends, informing him he had been arrested.
Ncube’s family spoke about his death outside the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday after Krejcir was charged with his murder.
None of the family members present wished to be identified.
“He wanted to take his kid to lunch; instead we received this news,” said one of Ncube’s relatives, referring to the last conversation she had with him before the weekend.
“Every day the wound is opened, it’s painful,” she said.
Ncube’s bullet-riddled body was found near a farm in Heidelberg.
Ncube, who lived in Norwood, allegedly worked for Krejcir as a debt collector.
Ncube’s relative said the family had heard rumours that Krejcir had been involved in the murder before they had been contacted by the police.
The new charge against Krejcir was revealed in the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, where he and six others appeared on a separate charge of conspiring to murder forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan and top cop Colonel Nkosana “Killer” Ximba in January.
The other six accused of the murder plot are Siboniso Miya, policewoman Sergeant Nandi Nkosi, Welcome Mafunda, Zoe Biyela, Owen Serero and Jacob Nare.
Prosecutor Lawrence Gcaba said on Tuesday the State would also be charging Miya, Nkosi and Mafunda with Ncube’s murder.
The case will be joined with the conspiracy to murder charge.
The case has been postponed until June 13 for further investigations.
A source close to the investigations said last week the gun used to kill Ncube - an R5 - had also been linked to the assassination of an alleged Krejcir associate, Sam Issa, in Bedfordview last October.
The Star