The man who shot and killed a policeman outside a tavern at the corner of Cason Road and 13th Avenue on April 5, 2002, is asking for forgiveness from the family of the officer he killed. He also ask the Boksburg community to forgive him for his crimes.
Themba Mbulule said after the years he has spent in prison, he is contrite and strongly feels he owes his victims an apology.
Mbulule (36) started engaging in the wrong activities from the age of 14, back in 1997.
He said he and his friends would break into local businesses, fabric shops and steal steel products and sell them for cash at a scrapyard.
“We would also rob people around Boksburg CBD, or anywhere. There was a time were we stole firearms from a house around Boksburg North, and got arrested and taken to the Bosasa youth development centres. After few weeks, we were released into the care of our parents because we were still minors.”
Mbulule said his parents were oblivious to his activities.
According to Mbulule, being arrested did not scare or stop his habit because he continued in his criminal activities.
He said in 1999 he and his friends bought a firearm for R2 000 from some men.
“We had to commit crimes in order to pay our debt. We would break into houses and steal things like electrical appliances and sell them.”
- First time he was convicted
“The first time I got convicted was at the age of 16 in 1999 for possession of an unlicensed firearm (the R2 000 firearm).”
Mbulule said what happened on that day was that he and his three friends boarded a taxi from Daveyton to Boksburg. Unbeknownst to them was that an off-duty police officer was also on the taxi.
“It seems the police officer who was with her daughter at the time noticed something suspicious about us while in the taxi. The taxi from Daveyton offloaded at the Dunswart taxi rank where we boarded another taxi to Cason Road.
“The officer then boarded the same taxi to Cason Road and we along with him got off the taxi near the Boksburg Hotel in Cason Road. We were not even aware that we were being followed as we entered a local tavern.”
Mbulule said within few minutes another police officer in uniform joined the off-duty officer and demanded to search them.
“I was always given the firearm to carry because I didn’t look suspicious due to my height and physique. I apparently have an innocent face.”
Mbulule said the firearm was found in his possession. He and a friend were arrested and were convicted to a five-year suspended sentence.
- The day of the murder
According to an article published in the Boksburg Advertiser on April, 19, 2002, Insp Sipho Nekana, who was 34-years-old at the time, was working at Sebenza Police Station. He previously worked at Boksburg North SAPS.
According to Mbulule on April 5, 2002, he and his two friends were at a tavern in the hope of robbing a security guard.
“Our plan was to hang around there up until he arrives and then to attack him. Our plan didn’t work because when we arrived at the tavern around 8pm, the security man at the door refused to let me in because I had a firearm, but my friends were allowed in.
“I was left behind as I tried to convince the security man to let me in. My friend ended up coming outside to stand with me while I tried to bribe the security so that he can let me in.”
Mbulule said while standing outside a red venture vehicle parked next to them.
“A man approached us and asked us if we knew someone specifically, which we didn’t. He then wanted to leave but this is when I saw the firearm on him.
“Since we wanted to rob the security guard, I then thought this was an easier target.”
“I acted quickly and draw my firearm. When the victim saw the gun he also tried to draw his own. I told him not to take chances, but as it turned out he tried to get away. I fired about four shots.”
Mbulule found the man wounded behind one of the parked vehicles.
“After seeing him in that state, I then shot him again. I grabbed the man’s firearm. My friend was shocked at what had happened so I ran away with the police officer’s service pistol.”
The convicted man said he managed to dodge the police, and in Angelo met other friends who told him that the man he shot was airlifted to hospital.
“The plan of action then was to travel to Tembisa where I could lie low.
“At that moment as we contemplated an escape route, we saw a couple carrying beers and groceries. We saw an opportunity to rob them so that we can get taxi money. In the scuffle, I ended up shooting the man in the leg.”
According to Mbulule, he went back the tavern in Boksburg North the following day to find out what happened to the man he shot.
“I was told he died in hospital and that he was a police officer. I was so scared . My life after that day changed for ever because I wasn’t free anymore, and the guilt that I had killed someone tortured me.
“Before I was arrested, I couldn’t sleep and I drank heavily to forget my problems. I didn’t even know the man I killed, he wasn’t even part of the plan he was just at the wrong place and at the wrong time.”
- The day he got arrested
During May, 2002, he was arrested following a shootout with the police after robbing another security guard of his firearm.
“As I fled, I managed to hide inside one of the yards in Comet. Two couples where sitting outside, and when they noticed me three of them ran into the house.
“One of the man stayed behind and I pointed a firearm at him, thinking that he will also run away. He just stood there and swore at me in Afrikaans.
“While inside the yard he came straight to me with the intentions of fighting me, but I fired warning shots near his feet but he persisted and he eventually held me. I had a chance to pull the trigger but something just stopped me.
“I thought that if I kill him then another case would be added to the pile of my transgressions.”
Mbulule was convicted at the age of 19 years in 2003 for murder and robbery, attempted murder (for the couple he found near Angelo), shootout with the police, robbery (robbing the security guard his firearm) and housebreaking and theft.
He is serving life imprisonment for murder and 30 years for the other four cases.
“While committing these crimes, I didn’t realise the impact it had on the victims or my family. After being convicted, I realised that I made a big mistake but I was ready to take responsibility and accountability for my actions.
“My family suffered a lot because my mother started to drink heavily because of stress.”
Mbulule said whenever his mother visited him in prison, she cried uncontrollably. Her mother passed away in 2017, and he didn’t attend her funeral.
- Apology
Mbulule said while he was attending his court case at the Johannesburg High Court he had the opportunity to see the police officer’s family, but when he pleaded with the investigative officer to apologise to them, he was denied that opportunity.
He said through the Department of Correctional Services Victim-Offender Dialogues, he was told that the family was untraceable, but after they had located them, he was told that they had forgiven him.
They were, however, not yet ready to meet him.
“My wish is to see the family and hear from them how the crime affected them. To hear if he had a wife or children, and how they were coping. I am truly sorry for all the crimes I’ve committed to all my victims. I hope they will find it in their hearts to forgive me,” he said.
Themba, who wanted to be a pilot, grew up in Daveyton with both parents and his young sister.
He said he was exposed to firearms at an early age.
“I remember while growing up I used to brag to my friends that we have firearms at home. After school, they would come home with me to look at them.
“When my father was released from prison in 1996, he and my mother divorced. He was arrested for possession of firearms.
“At some point, I lived with my father and then went to live with my mother who worked and lived in Boksburg North as a domestic worker. I then took a gap year that year and lived permanently in Boksburg North.”
During this time he met people who introduced him to crime.
“I wanted to fit in, and this is how my life took an unpleasant turn.”
Mbulule, who has acquired skills such as cabinet making while in prison, said if it was possible to turn back the hands of time, he would become a police officer to fight crime.
“Crime is like cancer that grows inside your body. It develops to certain stages where you can’t control it anymore.
“It is important for young people to choose their friends wisely, stay in school and obey their parents. Believe me, when I say crime doesn’t pay because it ends up eating you, you either end up going to prison or you die,” Mbulule said.
