Durban — A man who had been out on a presidential pardon after serving 15 years of his eight life sentences handed to him for eight murders was on Thursday in the Scottburgh High Court sentenced to five life terms for five counts of murder.
In 2018, Thulani Themba Nhlumayo, 48, shot and killed Zane Phehlokwayo, Njabulo Handsom Ndovela, Siphosakhe Sima, and Andile Professor Khowa during a robbery at Mama’s Tavern in Margate, and he killed Siyabonga Dindikazi in another robbery at Khowa's Tavern in Port Shepstone. On Thursday, he received five life sentences for their murders. Two people were injured during these shootings.
Nhlumayo was handed eight life sentences for the 1998 murder of eight people on Christmas Day and had been out on a presidential pardon when he committed the 2018 murders. It is believed he had served 15 years before being released.
He told the court that the 1998 shooting had been revenge on the ANC for an IFP leader that was killed.
He alleged that when he was released from jail in 2017 he was attacked and shot at and when he went to report to police he was told they would not help him. He alleges that a month before this his tuckshop was broken into.
Judge Kate Pillay handed Nhlumayo 10 years for each of the two attempted murders, 15 years for robbery with aggravated circumstances, 15 years for unlawful possession of a prohibited firearm and three years for the unlawful possession of ammunition.
Pillay ordered that Nhlumayo serve 25 years of his sentence before he could be considered for parole.
She described Nhlumayo’s actions as cold, heartless and calculated, adding that the accused and his cohort showed no mercy.
“Judging from the footage from the incident at Mama’s Tavern the accused appeared to be leading …The court was not surprised given his previous eight murders.”
In mitigation of sentence, Nhlumayo took to the stand where he told the court that his father had been shot and killed in 1989 in a politically motivated murder, something his defence said impacted his behaviour.
“I have no expert or psychiatric evidence of this … lots of people are touched by crime in some form or the other and some have been touched by political killings but how many resort to what the accused did? … The accused was given a second chance and chose not to be rehabilitated and within three years committed serious offences for no reason,” said Pillay.
She said Nhlumayo presented a significant risk to the public and given his previous and current convictions showed “little, if no prospect of rehabilitation”.
Pillay highlighted that the previous sentence had no impact on the accused.
Speaking to the Daily News outside court, Sylvia Sima, the mother of Siphosakhe Sima said that she felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders and that she was satisfied with the sentence handed to Nhlumayo.
“It was hard coming to the trial, hearing the evidence and at some point I stopped attending the case but I decided to come to his sentence. I will now be able to be like everyone else. I was never the same after what he did to our family. My son was my last hope. I am unemployed and he was the breadwinner.”
Sima said her son was meant to have started studying at a tertiary institution the year after he was killed.
“I had worked hard, raising him and sending him to school as a single mother while I was still employed. He was a quiet boy. When he finished matric he said he would take care of us. I bought a house and he had started renovating it and just as the renovations were almost done, he was killed,” she said.
Siyanda Khowa, the uncle of Andile Professor Khowa said that their faith in the justice system had been restored.
“The work that the investigating officer, Sergeant Sphiwosenkosi Hlongwane did was exemplary, bringing the families together and it all resulted in today’s sentence. I’m filled with happiness and I hope God blesses Hlongwane.”
Philile Phehlokwayo, the mother of Zane Phehlokwayo said that her tears for the loss of her son had been wiped away by Thursday’s sentence, even though it would not fill the gap in her heart left by her son’s death.
“I got justice today (Thursday) and I am happy with the way Hlongwane handled the case. The trial was difficult to get through. When I heard that they would be showing footage of the incident, I did not come to court that day because I just would not have been able to cope with seeing what happened to my son.”
Daily News