Four sentenced to life imprisonment for murder of Ladysmith municipal engineer
Four men were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Ladysmith municipal engineer Oscar Hlatshwayo.
Image: Supplied
The South African Police Service’s Political Killings Task Team has secured convictions and life sentences for four individuals involved in the 2019 murder of Alfred Duma Local Municipality official Oscar Hlatshwayo.
Hlatshwayo, who was serving as an Executive Director in the municipality’s Engineering and Infrastructure Services Department, was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Ladysmith in 2019. Police described the incident as a targeted assassination.
Following his death, the SAPS Political Killings Task Team launched an investigation leading to the arrest of four suspects in 2019. On Wednesday, the Madadeni High Court sentenced all four accused to life imprisonment.
According to SAPS, the accused Nomaswazi Shabalala, a senior engineer at the same municipality, was found to have orchestrated the killing.
Mondli Mabaso, a businessman with alleged links to municipal tenders, acted as an accomplice. Mduduzi Njuza coordinated the operation and supplied the firearms, while Brown Ngcobo was the gunman in the deadly attack.
The Mercury has recently reported on the concerns raised by the South African Municipal Workers' Union on the ‘war zone’ in the local government environment.
Cosatu has also set up a committee to look at municipal killings.
National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola welcomed the outcome. “We are encouraged by the life sentences handed down by the court. These convictions reflect the tireless efforts of our investigators and prosecutors in holding those behind politically linked murders accountable,” he said.
Masemola also expressed the hope that the ruling would bring some peace to the family of the slain official. “We trust this outcome brings a measure of closure to the family and colleagues of Mr Hlatshwayo.”
The convictions come amid heightened national attention on the Political Killings Task Team following recent revelations by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. In July, Mkhwanazi alleged that the task team had been deliberately disbanded by national police management and political interference.
He claimed the team had solved hundreds of cases, but that 121 active dockets were removed from their jurisdiction. President Cyril Ramaphosa has since placed Police Minister Senzo Mchunu on special leave and appointed a judicial commission of inquiry into the matter.