CAPE TOWN - A pastor, his wife and a hitman were sentenced to long prison terms in the George High Court on Friday.
Pastor Melisizwe Monqo, 32, his wife Siphosihle Pamba,26, and the hitman they hired, Phumlani Qusheka, 31, were convicted on an array of charges which included kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances and the murder of Hlompho Koloi.
Monqo, a pastor at God’s Work International Ministries, was sentenced to life and 252 years and three months’ imprisonment.
Pamba, his wife, was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment.
Qhusheka was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 63 years.
The court declared the trio unfit to possess a firearm.
Monqo was convicted on 26 charges for Koloi’s murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm, housebreaking with intent to commit murder, illegal possession of a firearm, illegal possession of ammunition and 13 counts of fraud.
Pamba was convicted on 24 counts which are similar to those of her husband.
During sentencing, the presiding judge stated he was deviating from the prescribed minimum sentence for Pamba as she too was a victim as her husband abused her and forced her to commit these crimes.
The judge said it could be seen that Pamba was remorseful and she apologised to God, to the victim’s family and society.
She asked forgiveness from the victim’s family and told the court she deserved to die for her crimes.
She did not participate in the gruesome death of Koloi.
Qhusheka was convicted on fewer charges including the murder of Koloi.
The court found the hitman and the pastor to not have shown an ounce of remorse.
The victim’s cellphone was found in the possession of Qhusheka as well as her DNA which was found in his bloodied clothes.
He still maintains his innocence.
This trial follows after the pastor and his wife were running a scam where they took out life insurance policies on behalf of congregants, his ex-lover, the mother of his child and planned their murders with intent to benefit from the payment of the life insurance policies.
Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Eric Ntabazalila said these unsuspecting victims were insured with Assupol, Liberty Life, Outsurance, 1 Life Insurance, Clientele Life ad Discovery and the accused stood to benefit more than R26.9 million.
In Koloi’s case, they took out two life insurance policies – one worth R3 million and the other worth R200 000, as well as a funeral policy worth R50 000.
“The well-calculated scam was proceeding well until the afternoon of July 5, 2018 when a lone fisherman, Francois Gerber, on his way to fish at Herolds Bay found the body of Koloi lying on the side of Voëlklip gravel road. He contacted the police who started their investigation on why a body of a smartly dressed young woman lay motionless on the side of a deserted gravel road,” Ntabazalila said.
Monqo and Pamba gave false statements to police on July 11, 2018 and the trio were arrested days later.
Investigation by police revealed Koloi, who was unemployed, was told she had a job interview at the George Airport. She called friends to borrow money for a taxi fare to attend the interview.
Her boyfriend and her brother accompanied her to the hiking spot at Thembalethu bridge in George.
She boarded a silver-grey sedan driven by Monqo with Qhusheka sitting at the back.
Hours later, her lifeless body was found with seven stab wounds and her throat had been slit.
She sustained five stab wounds to the left chest which penetrated her heart and her lung. The gaping wound to her neck had three edges across her neck.
The investigation revealed that similar cases were committed in and around the jurisdictions of Grahamstown, Port Elizabeth, Bisho, Mthatha and Western Cape.
Senior State Advocate Evadne Kortje obtained a centralisation certificate from the National Director of Public Prosecutions in order to prosecute the case in the Western Cape.
She called 36 witnesses including three state witnesses who implicated the three accused in the crimes.
The Acting Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Nicolette Bell, commended Advocate Kortje and the investigating office Sergeant Matwa for the sterling work they done over the past three years and four months.
“Sergeant Matwa criss-crossed two provinces collecting evidence, consulting witnesses and victims and brought all that evidence to Advocate Kortje.
“She managed to put together a complicated case, worked with emotional witnesses and successfully proved her case beyond reasonable doubt.
“This is an exhibition that our co-ordinated approach to dealing with crimes is paying off and resulting in long sentences,” Bell said.
The NPA will be providing the Koloi family with counselling.
IOL