‘Cop paid me to kill his daughter’

Published May 22, 2015

Share

Durban - A 27-year-old Inanda man did not think twice when he was offered R20 000 by a policeman to kill the officer’s 7-year-old daughter.

The only reason Simosakhe Ngcobo escaped a life sentence on Thursday, said Durban High Court Judge Shyam Gyanda, was because he volunteered to testify against the girl’s father, Thokozani Ngidi, expected to stand trial in July.

Ngcobo, who has a 2-year-old daughter, was sentenced to 25 years in jail for his role in Philiswa Zungu’s murder. On March 4, she was dragged from her home in Nsuze, KwaDakuza, and stabbed 40 times.

“Photographs of the crime scene illustrate the brutality of her death. Her intestines were removed from her stomach cavity as a result of the stab wounds,” said the judge.

In his guilty plea, read out to the court on Thursday by his lawyer, Thiagaraj Pillay, Ngcobo said a friend (who cannot be named because police are still investigating) received a telephone call from a policeman, who wanted him to do a job that would pay “lots of money”.

They met that evening and agreed to Ngidi’s proposal to “kill a person” for R20 000 each.

After unsuccessfully trying to secure a firearm, they armed themselves with knives and met Ngidi and two other people and went to Philiswa’s home.

“…He informed us that he wanted us to kill his daughter. Thokozani pointed to a rondavel hut and stated that (we) will find his daughter there with her mother’s family,” his plea read.

The pair approached and found a woman and three or four children in the hut. They went back to Ngidi, who was waiting for them outside the property, and said they did not know which of the children was his daughter.

“Thokozani said that if there were three children, we should rather kill all three children, but we refused. He then suggested that we go back and ask which child is ‘Thokozani’s child’.”

They complied.

“The lady inside the rondavel pointed at a young girl and the child came and stood next to me.”

He said they took the child and locked the others inside the rondavel.

“(We) then went to look for Thokozani, while I held the child. (The friend) then came back with Thokozani who confirmed that (was) his child and said ‘kill her’.”

Ngcobo said the friend stabbed the child and she fell to the ground, but he continued to stab her.

“(The friend) said we needed to make sure that the child died because Thokozani didn’t want any attempted murder.”

They went to Ngidi’s house where they washed, ate and spent the night. The next day they were given R100 to return to Inanda and two days later were “only paid” R1 000 each.

Ngcobo was arrested this month and confessed.

During arguments for sentencing, Pillay asked for the court’s mercy, saying his client had co-operated with police and had taken responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty.

State advocate, Noxolo Dube, said Ngcobo pleaded because he had no choice. She said three witnesses were inside the house that night and had pointed him out at an identity parade.

“He acted out of greed. The pictures show a tiny body just left there. He may not have stabbed her himself, but he was holding the deceased while (his friend) stabbed her. They were both armed with knives,” Dube argued.

She asked the court for a 25-year sentence, saying the only reason she was not arguing for life was because Ngcobo volunteered to testify against Ngidi.

Gyanda concurred with the State. “An innocent child was killed due to greed. He accepted the job without batting an eyelid. The child was taken out of the sanctity of her home and murdered in her yard,” he said.

He said by volunteering to testify, it indicated Ngcobo had some humanity, which was his redeeming feature.

No motive for the killing was given.

[email protected]

Daily News

Related Topics: