39-year sentence for girlfriend who killed police sergeant, staged death as suicide

The Johannesburg High Court has sentenced the ex-girlfriend of a police sergeant to 39 years of imprisonment after she stabbed him to death and tried to stage it as a suicide.

On the night that Sergeant Kgopotso Ntsana, 36, from the Elsburg police station lost his life at about 10:30pm on 2 December 2022, he had an argument with Bongiwe Praise Magwaza, 23, at their shared residence in Leomakalapa, next to Windmill Park Estate in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni.

According to Hawks’ Warrant Officer Thatohatsi Mavimbela, the argument escalated to a scuffle, which resulted in Magwaza stabbing Ntsana with a pair of scissors multiple times.

Staging a suicide scene

“Magwaza then took the deceased’s firearm from where it was kept and shot him in the head at point-blank range. She then placed the firearm next to the deceased in an effort to make it seem like he had committed suicide,” Mavimbela said in a statement ahead of Magwaza’s sentencing on Wednesday morning.

The murderess then fled the residence and spent the night at her other boyfriend’s place in Germiston. Magwaza returned to Ntsana’s house the next day, lied to neighbours, and said her boyfriend killed himself.

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The authorities were called to the scene, where blood spatter experts and photographers examined the scene, and an inquest docket was registered at Dawn Park Police Station pending a preliminary investigation.

Mavimbela said crime reconstruction experts also visited the scene on 5 December 2022.

At this stage, the girlfriend was in detention at Boksburg Police Station cells for assault with grievous bodily harm (GBH).

While the probe was ongoing, the case was not placed on the court roll due to insufficient evidence.

Suicide ruled out as cause of death

“Captain Sizwe Sibeko from the Hawks’ National Priority Violent Crimes (NPVC) swiftly picked up Magwaza from the cells before she could be let go. This followed a forensic factual report that ruled out suicide as the cause of death due to inconsistencies discovered after the crime scene was reconstructed,” Mavimbela said.

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Magwaza was charged with murder, and she was eventually granted R1 000 bail in January 2023 following numerous appearances.

Her bail was revoked on 22 November 2023, and she was referred to the Sterkfontein Psychiatric Hospital for mental evaluation after she started acting erratically.

Magwaza was declared fit to stand trial, and she remained in custody until she was found guilty on four counts of murder, possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, and defeating the ends of justice on 1 July 2024.

Sentenced on Wednesday

Following the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime team’s extensive investigations and aggravating and mitigating appeals, the matter was finalised on Wednesday in the Johannesburg High Court sitting.

Magwaza has been sentenced to 20 years for murder, seven years for the unlawful possession of a firearm, five years for the unlawful possession of ammunition, and seven years for defeating the ends of justice, and she was declared unfit to possess a firearm. 

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