CAPE TOWN - The alleged insurance claims killer and former policewoman Rosemary Nomia Ndlovu took insurance and other policies for her relatives and boyfriend, before she allegedly killed them.
Maria Mushwana, 80, Ndlovu’s mother, testified in her defence at the high court proceedings at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, where Ndlovu stood accused of murdering her family members for insurance payouts.
The frail Mushwana seemed indifferent when she was questioned, however tensions arose when she started contradicting her daughter, whom she was meant to defend.
Ndlovu had earlier testified that she was one of the last people to see her nephew, Brilliant Mashigo, alive in 2018 in Bushbuckridge. However, Mushwana contradicted this saying that her daughter was nowhere near Bushbuckridge when Brilliant died.
“No, they did not travel together ... but he did come to my house on a Sunday. When Brilliant died, he died while in Bushbuckridge,” Mushwana said.
Mushwana also told the court that she had not asked her daughter about Brilliant’s death, because the only time Ndlovu was at Bushbuckridge was the day before Brilliant was buried.
It came out in court proceedings that Ndlovu had cashed in over R400 000 for her sister Audrey’s death. The court also heard about fraudulent activities that the accused had allegedly engaged in relating to pretending to be her sister in order to cash in on policies. She denied impersonating her sister at any stage.
The mother of the two sisters was also asked if she knew that Ndlovu had ordered a hit on her and had paid a hit man to execute the hit. Mushwana denied knowledge of this and said she did not feel threatened at all.
She contradicted the testimony of one witness who said he had come to Bushbuckridge with Ndlovu to execute her murder, saying she did not remember the man who allegedly went to her house to ask for water.
The court gave Mushwana some time to spend with her daughter after her testimony.
The court heard that Ndlovu had several policies for different people and in some instances there were multiple policies for one individual.
When she was asked about the funeral policy she had taken out for her boyfriend, Morris Mabasa, she seemed emotional. In this regard she had received an around R700 000 insurance payout.
The court had heard that in some instances Ndlovu never paid for the funerals in the family, even though she had cashed out. The court heard that she had both funeral insurance and life insurance policies.
The court heard that there was more than one policy on Morris and that Ndlovu in one the policies had registered Morris as her spouse. The couple had a child who also died.
At some point the lawyers were confused about which funeral policy was being spoken about. It is believed that Ndlovu benefited by over R1 million for the deaths of her boyfriend and family members. For the death of her niece, Zanele Motha, she got over R100 000. Motha died a mysterious death.
While being questioned about her policies, Ndlovu started complaining about chest pain. She was given water. She then started complaining about back pain.
Judge Ramarumo Monama reminded Ndlovu that at some stage she had admitted to certain accusations that the state had placed before the court. She responded saying at no point did she admit to trying to kill her sister, Joyce.
Ndlovu told the court that in some of the deaths in the family she had not claimed money and this included the death of her nephew, Brilliant.
The matter continues.
Cape Times