Durban North crime fighter secures convictions

TO her family, Sgt Detective Lungile Ngcobo is a supermom. But when she is not tending to her family or studying towards her law degree, the 37-year-old puts on a different cape.

By day, and sometimes by night, she is a crime fighter, stationed at Durban North police station. Recently the bubbly police woman’s dedication paid off as she secured two successful convictions.

Her latest flicker of justice came with the high profile case in which two cyclists, Richard da Silva (46) of Glen Anil and Jaryd Dwyer (36) of Glenwood were killed on the Ruth First Highway, after a motorists crashed into them.

Omnesh Ramnarain (33) was found guilty of two counts of culpable homicide at the Durban Magistrate’s Court in April.

The Phoenix plumber was sentenced 10 years in prison on 25 May.

Speaking to the Northglen News Det Ngcobo said this case will be one she remembers forever.

“Tensions were always very high. The family of the victims understandably grieved throughout the trail and I was determined to make sure that justice was served,” she said.

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What made it harder for the family, she added, was when Ramnarain changed his counsel and opted to change his guilty plea in September.

Ngcobo, who has been a detective for 12 years, said the case had been particularly challenging as she had to obtain 18 statements for the case, and had to find new ways of proving the suspect’s guilt after the drunken driving charge had been withdrawn – due to technical difficulties.

The mother of three sacrificed many hours from her family to obtain the statements, as most people were available after office hours.

It was all worth it in the end, she said.

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“While you cannot replace the life of a lost loved one, I believe that in a way justice was served. I hope that it will bring some closure to the families,” she said.

Last year, Ngcobo also nabbed two thieves who had been stealing and reselling wedding gowns – worth R280 000 – from a store in uMhlanga.

Through her thorough investigations the detective was able to secure the convictions of Alicia Nunkumar (35), who had been an employee at the store, and her boyfriend, Dhanasagren Naidu (50). They were each sentenced to three years in prison.

“When I received the docket in May last year the owner of the store suspected that his employees were behind the stock theft. Through CCTV footage and several statements from witnesses, who had purchased some of the stolen dresses, we were able to positively identify and link the couple to the theft,” she said.

The dedicated officer had also managed to recover 60 of the stolen dresses.

Capt Raymond Deokaran, spokesman for the station, said both the Station Commander and the station are incredibly proud of Det Ngcobo.

“It is clear to see that Sgt Det Ngcobo puts 110 per cent into her work. There are few people like her,” he said.

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