Life behind bars for trio guilty of brutal murder of Tongaat teen

The mother of the 16-year-old teenager who was kidnapped and murdered in April 2020, said she still struggles to come to terms with her son’s death, especially after a video of the boy being assaulted was circulated on social media following the heinous crime.

This week, the Verulam Regional Court sentenced Andile Nhleko (27), Mncedisi Mzobe (27) and Lindani Ndlovu (26) to life and various terms of imprisonment for the murder and kidnapping of the teenage boy.

Their co-accused, Malusi Mthembu (27), was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for murder and three years imprisonment for the kidnapping.

The incident took place in the Hambanathi area of Tongaat. Another co-accused in this matter, Mlungisi Thabethe, passed away before the commencement of the trial.

Teenage boy beaten to death for allegedly stealing alcohol

The boy was suspected of stealing alcohol from Thabethe’s premises. He was interrogated and eventually admitted to taking the alcohol.

After the alcohol was recovered, the boy was kept in a room on the premises, and the other accused were called.

They assaulted the boy with different objects such as a sjambok, golf clubs and wooden sticks. They took turns, assaulting him for more than four hours.

At some point, the boy’s sister arrived on the scene after hearing from someone that he was being assaulted.

She was told by Ndlovu to go and fetch clean clothes for the boy so that he could be taken to the hospital. When she returned, she was told that the boy had escaped.

Accused left boy’s body in bakkie at braai

By this time, the accused had loaded the boy’s body onto a bakkie. The accused then attended a braai and birthday celebration for Thabethe.

After the birthday celebration, Nhleko, Mzobe and Ndlovu went to another area where they burned the body.

The following morning, Nhleko dismembered the body and placed it into a bag. The remains were dumped in a nearby river.

Thabethe was initially arrested, followed by the arrests of his co-accused.

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Testimony

In court, Prosecutor Nthuthuko Sidwell Mngadi led the evidence of a Section 204 witness who was present at the offence.

In addition, the State led the evidence of another person who was also suspected of stealing the alcohol, but was released after interrogation.

The boy’s sister told the court how she had gone to the premises and was told that he brother had escaped.

The police official who was present when the remains were found, also testified in court.

In aggravation of sentence, the Prosecutor presented a Victim Impact Statement compiled by the boy’s mother and facilitated by court preparation officer, Bongiwe Qwabe.

In her statement, the woman said that she was still traumatised by the incident. She said that following the incident, a video of her son being assaulted was circulated on social media and this hurt her even more.

Breakdown of sentencing in teen boy’s murder trial

• Nhleko and Mzobe were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and three years imprisonment for kidnapping.
• Ndlovu was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and four years imprisonment for kidnapping.
• Mthembu was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for murder and three years imprisonment for kidnapping.
• In sentencing Mthembu, the court deviated to a lesser sentence, finding that he had left the premises at some stage during the assault and did not participate in the burning and dismembering of the deceased.
• The court convicted him on the principle of common purpose but found that he had only played an initial role in the offence. In addition to the sentence, the accused were declared unfit to possess a firearm.

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