Life sentences for couple and hitmen in murder-for-insurance plot

A married couple, a hitman, and two accomplices were sentenced to life imprisonment plus 15 years for the attempted murder of a woman the couple took out life insurance for and the murder of her boyfriend.

Zizipho Pani (34) and her husband Siyathemba James (39) employed the woman who was staying on the same street as them at Lingelihle in Nxuba (formerly Cradock), Eastern Cape.

Zizipho, the mastermind, took out funeral policies with Standard Bank and ABSA on the life of the victim in 2021 which would pay R200 000 upon her death.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said that with the promise of a R50 000 bounty, Zizipho solicited the services of her relative and hitman Sinethemba Pani (34), Sizwesethu Jonas (34), and their accomplice, who was a minor at the time, Masixole Sokoyi (19), to kill the victim. She lived with her boyfriend at his home at the time.

Victims attacked with pangas and knives

“On the night of 10 October 2022, the men went to the homes of the victims, where they knocked and were permitted to enter as they were known to both of their targets. They then stabbed the couple with pangas and knives. Sokoyi raped the bleeding victim, and they left them believing they were both dead,” Tyali said.

Miraculously, the woman managed to crawl to the neighbours, and an ambulance was called to the scene, but her boyfriend was certified dead.

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The victim was also able to tell the authorities who her attackers were.

“However, the assailants went on the run, and it was during that time that Zizipho Pani and her husband took them to a sangoma in the neighbouring town of Cookhouse.

“The attackers were rounded off by community members, had to be rescued by the police, and were subsequently arrested,” Tyali said.

Masterminds implicated in crime

One of the accomplices, who became a state witness, confessed and implicated the married couple in the crime.

Tyali said that during the trial at the Makhanda High Court sitting in Nxuba, all but one suspect pleaded not guilty, and while the defence tried to discredit the victim by portraying her as a drunkard and drug addict when identifying her attackers, State Advocate Sibusiso Mgenge led the evidence of the victim, who had to relive her ordeal in court.

“Imposing the sentences, Judge Nozuko Mviko agreed with Advocate Mgenge’s submission that insurance payout murders are becoming out of control not only in the Eastern Cape but in the country. She noted that the courts had a duty to impose sentences that would deter other would-be perpetrators until legislation preventing people from taking insurance covers against people without their express consent is enacted,” Tyali said.

Life imprisonment and 15 years

Zizipho, James, Sinethemba, and Jonas were sentenced to life imprisonment plus 15 years for their roles in crimes, while Sokoyi was sentenced to an effective 25-year imprisonment for the murder, attempted murder, and rape of the woman.

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“It can never be overemphasised how important human life is, and therefore we will be vigorous in our pursuit of these cases to serve as a deterrent to would-be murderers,” said Eastern Cape Director of Public Prosecutions Barry Madolo while commending the prosecutor and the investigating officer.