Durban - “Nonto die.”
This chilling message was found engraved on the R4 rifle issued to SANDF soldier Thembinkosi American Ngcobo which was used to kill his ex-girlfriend Nontokozo Mbambo’s sister.
On the other side of the rifle is a heart with the name “Syanda”, the name of Mbambo’s child, which Ngcobo suspected was not his.
Ngcobo was issued the rifle at the SANDF Upington base where he was to perform guard duties. Instead, he feigned illness before deserting his post and driving to Durban on a murder-suicide mission in January.
The rifle was yesterday presented as evidence in Ngcobo’s Durban High Court trial by state advocate Krishen Shah. Christiaan Ruiters, the guard commander, confirmed it was the weapon he had issued to Ngcobo the night he left the camp unauthorised.
Ruiters told the court that the writing on the rifle was not there when he issued Ngcobo the weapon with five rounds of ammunition.
He said Ngcobo should have returned the rifle at the end of his shift but he never saw him again.
It is alleged that, on noticing he was missing, when his base commander called to ask where he was, Ngcobo told him he was travelling to Durban to murder his former girlfriend and their son. The child was just two months old.
Ngcobo allegedly drove to Ntuzuma, where it is alleged he shot his girlfriend’s sisters Nokwanda and Nonzuzo Mbambo. Nokwanda died at the scene and Nonzuzo was injured.
A year later Nonzuzo and her mother Nomusa Mbambo were murdered at their home in Ntuzuma.
Ngcobo, who faces a raft of charges, including one of murder and 18 of attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and kidnapping, pleaded not guilty to all the charges at the start of trial in the Durban High Court yesterday.
He is also charged with contravening the Firearms Control Act for being illegally in position of the state rifle and ammunition.
In a statement read by his attorney Mhlonipheni Sibiya, Ngcobo said he met Nontokozo Mbambo in September 2015 and they became a couple.
He said he returned to Upington in December after his leave ended and was advised by the military doctor that he had a sexually transmitted disease. This shocked him because Mbambo was his only sexual partner.
He said in March 2016 she told him she was pregnant with his child. This surprised him because their last sexual encounter had taken place several months before she found she was pregnant.
He said he started to doubt her faithfulness to him as he had also started providing her with financial support of between R3000 and R4000 a month.
When he returned home for Christmas, he discovered messages on her phone that indicated she was sleeping with another man.
“When I confronted her, she admitted she was sleeping with another man and apologised. I returned to camp in January after the baby was born. I was still contemplating how I could determine the paternity of the child,” he said.
Ngcobo was unable to reach Mbambo on the phone from January 28 to 30 and he received a call from a relative, telling him that she was seen driving away with their baby and another man.
He said his attempts to get hold of Mbambo were fruitless and her mother could not tell him where she and the baby were.
He then arranged with another colleague to swop shifts so he would work the night shift on January 30, and was issued the rifle.
During his shift he pretended to have a running stomach and needed to relieve himself but instead he left the camp.
“When I left the camp, it was clear in my mind that my girlfriend was unfaithful to me and that she had lied about the child being mine.
“I had a strong belief that the man she was seen with was the father of the child, not just her secret lover. Otherwise she would not have left with the child.
“I concluded that I was going to kill her and myself,” he said.
Ngcobo said he drove to Mbambo’s house and found her sister Nonzuzo, who said she did not know her whereabouts. At about midday, he drove back to Mbambo’s home and while on his way heard gunshots. He thought it was a robbery before he realised that his windscreen had been shot.
“I applied my training as a soldier. I put the vehicle in neutral and picked up the service rifle that was on the passenger seat. I managed to jump off the moving car and fled, taking shelter at a nearby shack until later that evening, and then went home,” he said. The state claims he shot at and injured seven police officers in the incident.