The murder of Mount Edgecombe pharmacy owner Nalin Naidu has taken a sensational turn with a self-confessed hit man on Tuesday admitting he had slit her throat after a man known to her paid him R15 000 to kill her. Zwelkahe Sthembiso Maphumulo, 41, pleaded guilty in the Durban Magistrate’s Court to charges relating to the kidnapping and murder of Naidu, 47, in October last year.
He was jailed for an effective 30 years by magistrate Anand Maharaj, who said in passing sentence that society had lost its way.
“People who know each other just kill each other.”
It emerged from Maphumulo’s chilling testimony that the alleged mastermind had conspired with a hit squad, which also included two women.
Police said further arrests were imminent.
The man known to Naidu was allegedly in Shongweni with her before she was murdered.
Maphumulo said the initial plan, that the man would request Naidu to hand over an envelope to four or five people who had stopped near the car in which she was seated, had not materialised because a fearful Naidu declined to jump out of the car.
Reports at the time that Naidu was abducted from a shopping centre in Malvern went against Maphumulo’s testimony.
In another startling revelation made in court this week, Naidu’s relative, Rajendra Jugdeo, who testified in aggravation of sentence, said Naidu had miraculously survived a hit on her life in 2006. And the man she had saved from going to prison for attempting to murder her then was the same person who conspired to eventually have her killed, he said. Naidu had asked the court not to jail him.
According to Jugdeo the man had received a wholly suspended four year sentence and a term of correctional supervision after he admitted in the Durban Magistrate’s Court to hiring hit men to end her life.
The investigating officer in Naidu’s murder, Warrant Officer Rajendran Govender, confirmed in court that what Jugdeo had said about the 2006 shooting incident was true.
In that incident, near Falcon Park Primary School in Kharwastan, Chatsworth, Naidu was shot about five times, including in the head, after she had dropped off her son, who is now 13.
Govender said the trigger-man in that case was arrested but had absconded and was still on the run.
The court heard that Maphumulo was promised R55 000 “for the job” by the alleged mastermind. However, he said he was only paid R15 000 in cash.
He was also given R1 000 by the alleged mastermind which he said he had used to buy the knife which he used to slit Naidu’s throat and alcohol for him and other members of the hit squad.
The court heard that after the hit on Naidu’s life was carried out, Maphumulo and the others (excluding the alleged mastermind) went to the Gateway mall in uMhlanga on a shopping spree for new clothes.
Said Maharaj: “The accused participated in this heinous crime out of sheer greed. He took the court into his confidence by pleading guilty. He testified that he is sorry and has been remorseful. He has co-operated with police and has provided the name of the person who masterminded this chilling crime as well as the names of the others who conspired to kill the deceased.”
Maharaj said Naidu must have endured a painful death.
“The court heard from her relatives that she was a mother (of two), a daughter, a wife, an aunt, a successful businesswoman and a humanitarian. Her murder was a big loss to her family and others. The commission of murders on women by men known to them is prevalent in society. We have one of the best constitutions in the world but unfortunately human life is not treated with dignity and respect,” he said.
“Police must be commended for making a breakthrough in this case. The court hopes that police will continue with their investigations with the same vigour and energy so that the other killers who aborted the deceased’s life are brought to book.”
Apart from Govender, the other police officers from the Provincial Task Team who nabbed Maphumulo and a second accused, Gcina Magwaza, included Warrant Officers Bob Pillay, Rajen Nagesar and Denver Parbhu.
The second accused is expected to make his third appearance in court tomorrow (Thursday).
Naidu’s relative, Jugdeo, said outside court that his family was pleased with the sentence handed down on Maphumulo.
“Now we await the arrest and facing of the music by the big fish. The revelations by the accused shocked me. I never knew that the alleged mastermind hated Nalin so much that he ordered the hit on her.”