Trial of alleged serial killer from eMbalenhle continues in February

The trial of Themba Shongwe, a man accused of the murder and rape of several young girls in eMbalenhle, is set to continue on February 16.

Sergeant Hezekiel Malapela will continue to testify as he is still under oath.

Malapela in his testimony when the trial began in October, told the court that an unidentified girl who was found murdered and dumped in the street in Ext 17, eMbalenhle, was also a victim of the suspected serial killer, Shongwe.

Malapela, a detective with the police’s Secunda-based Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) and who is renowned for investigating serial offenders, spent two days on the witness stand in October.

Shongwe is on trial for the rape and murders of four more girls, Mihle Zingamo, Cynthia Masilela, Lerato Nkutha and Nokulunga Nkutha, between 2016 and 2018.

Malapela told the court the unidentified girl was buried as a pauper because no one claimed her remains.

Malapela obtained a crime kit from Evander Hospital about her death which was then kept at the eMbalenhle Police Station.

He testified the crime kit was among the things stolen in a burglary at the police station. Malapela told the court that the girl’s fingerprints were sent to the department of Home Affairs.

He also went through the police station’s file for missing persons and the girl’s information was circulated in local newspapers, but it yielded no results in finding her identity.

He testified that after studying the case and the photo album, he believe the girl was murdered by the same person who killed the other four girls.

He said how her body was found and the postmortem results were the same as that of the other four dockets.

He previously told the court the girl’s injuries were similar to those of the other four girls. How she was dumped, was also the same.

Malapela testified that this girl had also been redressed when her body was discovered and there was also white foam coming out of her nose.

He also testified about his investigation into Mihle Zingano’s murder. Mihle (14) was reported missing before her body was found dumped in the street in 2018.

Malapela said another victim survived and an identification parade was held, but the little girl was unable to identify Shongwe.

He also testified the social worker’s report stated that, according to a report from the doctor, the victim’s thinking capacity was the same as that of a four-year-old.

Malapela also testified that Shongwe was released at that time and his cellphone was confiscated.

He told the court that after all the dockets were assigned to him, he called for an Ext 17 imbizo to notify the community that he was taking over as the investigating officer assigned to all four cases of the murdered girls.

The trial continued from December 9 to 12, during which photos from albums of the crime scenes were displayed.
Shongwe’s trial will continue next month.