Johannesburg - A 49-year-old Polokwane woman has been arrested for allegedly paying hitmen R50 000 to kill her estranged businessman husband.
Limpopo police spokesperson Captain Matimba Maluleke said the woman, who works as a company secretary at the Gateway Airport Authority Limited, was arrested at her Polokwane home on Thursday evening.
She and the husband were separated and were in in the process of being divorced, Maluleke said.
“The woman, who is a former senior manager at Capricorn District Municipality, is allegedly experiencing marital problems and solicited the help of hitmen to kill her husband in exchange for a R50 000 payment,” he said.
The Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation gathered intelligence and uncovered the plot and put to action a plan to apprehend the suspect
Maluleke said the investigation revealed that the suspect is married to a well-known businessmen who lived around Polokwane however the estranged couple were on the very end of divorce. He added that the couple shared children but couldn’t say how many.
"The three hitmen were hired to follow through with the killing in exchange for a sizable payment. However, whatever they planned did not materialise," he said.
The wife is expected to make her first appearance in the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court soon and investigations are still ongoing.
Meanwhile, another businessman, Jabulani Isaac Nkosi, was killed in a hit, allegedly organised by his wife and teenage daughter.
Busi Nkosi, the 41-year-old wife of the Mpumalanga funeral parlour owner, and their 17-year-old daughter, are accused of organising the hit which was allegedly executed by a group of people.
Nkosi was shot several times in his home, but his wife and daughter claimed they did not see or hear anything – although they were both in the house at the time – said police spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi.
Nkosi had a brush with death on January 8, when armed men broke into his home and demanded money.
He was discharged from hospital on January 16. Three days later, the suspects entered his home and fired several shots at him before fleeing the scene, Hlathi said.
Busi Nkosi, their daughter, Muntu Mashinini, Sipho Dube, Thokozane Radebe and Zenele Malindisi have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder as well as murder and appeared in the Balfour Magistrate's Court on Monday.
Their case was postponed to February 3 for a bail application.