For seven years, Thokozile Ndlovu has fought to prove her husband was murdered, allegedly at the hands of 20 Hawks and crime intelligence officers, during a botched police operation.
Terrence Mpofu was allegedly tortured to death inside his Hillbrow flat by officers who believed he had information on the whereabouts of serial armed robber and escape artist Bongani Moyo.
“They (the Hawks) have never spoken to me. They came in, killed him, and I still have no explanation,” Ndlovu told the Saturday Star this week.
“He was the breadwinner in our family. Now it’s just me and my child. We don’t know what to do,” she said.
Ndlovu and her extended family have been waiting two years for the conclusion of an inquest into the incident that led to her 27-year-old husband’s death, and this week at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court, the final witness evidence was heard.
Ndlovu is hoping the court will decide that criminal charges should be instituted against the 20 officers, some of whom have since climbed the ranks at the SAPS crime intelligence unit and the Hawks.
Among the group of officers is Lieutenant-Colonel André Neethling, the section commander for Tactical Operations Management (TOMS) at the Hawks, and Lieutenant-Colonel Leslie “Cowboy” Maluleke, who has since resigned, after being found guilty of illegal rendition of several Zimbabweans criminal suspects.
In their various statements handed in as part of the inquest, most of the officers denied knowledge of the allegations, with many saying they were stationed outside the flat as a small group entered to interrogate Mpofu. However, one warrant officer, Denver Subramanien, fingered Maluleke and two TOMS officers as the main torturers.
According to his statement, he was one of the officers who entered the flat, where they found Mpofu, Ndlovu and their child. Ndlovu and her child were taken to the lounge while Maluleke, a Captain Sharpe and two members of TOMS stayed in the bedroom.
When busy searching Mpofu’s closet, Subramanien said that Mpofu had tried to resist as they “secured” him, prompting the officers to tie his hands behind his back with a cable tie.
“Maluleke then took a white plastic bag which he then placed over the head of the suspect and tied it around his neck. After some time Maluleke untied the white plastic bag and after that the other two members kicked the suspect in the stomach area and ankles,” Subramanien’s statement read.
It was then that Subramanien left the room, but when he returned a short while later he saw Mpofu unconscious in a sitting position, bleeding from his nose. When they noticed he wasn’t moving, the 27-year-old was rolled on to his stomach, the cable tie was removed and Maluleke and Sharpe began trying to resuscitate him.
Maluleke has since denied this version of events during his testimony, with he and other officers claiming Mpofu had simply collapsed during a struggle during his initial detainment.
This week, State pathologist Dr Robert Ngude was brought to the stand to testify on his findings after conducting Mpofu’s post-mortem.
Ngude said there was no conclusive finding on the cause of death, but that various contusions and haematoma on Mpofu’s back meant that blunt force trauma could not be ruled out. Damage to Mpofu’s heart and brain could have indicated that he suffered major shock before his death, though this too was inconclusive.
The damage to Mpofu’s heart could have been sustained during a possible attempt to resuscitate him, though the blood in Mpofu’s brain would have been caused by shock, or some sort of aneurysm.
“Sometimes an autopsy does not yield all the answers,” Ngude said.
State prosecutor Nazley January and the lawyers for the 20 officers, Tom Mohope and Don Thinane, are set to give their closing arguments this week, though it’s unclear when a ruling will be made on whether to prosecute.
Ndlovu and Mpofu’s family are pursuing a civil damages claim against the police.