Update: 2 appear in Pietermaritzburg court for Imbali couple’s murder

Two men briefly appeared in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court yesterday in connection with the murders of Xolani Ngcobo (51) and his wife, Nomusa Cele (47), who were shot dead in their Imbali home on Sunday morning.

Their six-year-old foster granddaughter miraculously survived the deadly attack.

The accused, Sandile Ngcobo and Sbonelo Shoba, face two charges of murder.

Ngcobo also faces charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm and unlawful possession of 10 rounds of ammunition, after being found with an automatic pistol on Sunday.

Both Ngcobo and Shoba, who have previous convictions and have served jail time, applied for legal aid representation yesterday.

Ngcobo chose not to seek bail, while Shoba will make a formal bail application next Wednesday.

Njoms Security, the private security company whose members arrested the suspects, said they conducted a 48-hour operation to track down Ngcobo and Shoba, successfully apprehending them within that time.

Njoms Security owner, Bruce Mhlongo, said: “We didn’t sleep from Sunday until we completed the operation on Monday, we then handed them over to the police. Shoba was a known criminal and had been arrested by us before when we first started operating in this area.”

He described the scene they encountered when they arrived at the couple’s residence after the shooting, finding the six-year-old child trembling with fear on the veranda.

We found Ngcobo shot twice in the back of the head inside the house, while his wife was discovered near a tuck shop with a gunshot wound to the head.

“Our client reported hearing screams and gunshots from the main house and pressed the panic button. The team arrived within two minutes.

“The suspects were known in the area, which has a history of crime. We thought we had cleaned up the area, but some released prisoners have returned to criminal activity, tarnishing the community’s image.”

Mhlongo urged residents to install security systems to make it more difficult for criminals to access homes.