Police welcome life sentences of four Ninini murderers
WESTERN Cape Police Commissioner Khombinkosi Jula lauded his investigative teams, which secured the conviction of four men for the murder of 19-year-old Bongiwe Ninini in July 2015. The men were sentenced to life imprisonment in the Western Cape High Court yesterday.
Ninini’s ex-boyfriend, Phumlani Nyewu, Masimthembe Solontsi, Melikhaya Mgushelo and Thabiso Balithoba, were found guilty of Ninini’s murder in December last year.
“The Western Cape Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Khombinkosi Jula, welcomed the conviction and sentencing to four life terms of the four suspects arrested in the much-publicised case of the murder of 19-year-old Bongiwe Ninini on Saturday, July 18, 2015, in Kwezi Park, Khayelitsha,” the police said in a statement.
“The SAPS welcomes the conviction and sentencing of the four suspects, which took place this morning in the Cape High Court. All four of the suspects arrested in the case were handed down a life sentence each.
“The team of detectives who worked on the case are lauded for their thorough investigation to ensure the four convictions. As the SAPS worked closely with the community of Khayelitsha to reach this victory over heartless criminals, the community members are urged to continue to mobilise themselves into legitimate structures to continue making a difference on the crime front. The safety of communities is everyone’s responsibility and together we can ensure that our neighbourhoods are safe.”
Yesterday, acting Judge Mushtak Parker described the “horror that unfolded” on the night of Ninini’s murder.
It was July 18, 2015 and she had joined Nyewu at his house where the other three men, all of whom were known to her, were also socialising.
Together, they danced and drank “when for no apparent reason they turned on her and brutally and savagely killed her”.
Parker expressed his “absolute horror” at the accused’s betraying her trust in them: “It was a relentless attack on the deceased.”
Ninini was grabbed from behind by accused number two, Solontsi and strangled. She fell to the ground, was hit over the head with beer bottles and was then kicked and stomped on.
The men wrapped her in a sheet as she was bleeding and then carried her through Khayelitsha “brazenly” to a field where she was dumped in an open drain.
Nyewu left the scene and returned with a spade. All four men beat her with it, fracturing her skull.
Parker said he found her injuries difficult to describe in short words: “Her skull and scalp were opened up.”
The pathologist testified during the trial that she had “bled out”.
“The accused simply carried on with their lives, for all of 10 days. Some went back to work, others did nothing,” Parker said. They were arrested on July 28. Accused number four, Balithoba, took the “dreaded spade” which had been washed and stored it under his bed.
Parker said the young woman had been enjoying herself with them. She had been “vulnerable, unarmed, alone and outnumbered”.
When she had “screamed for dear life”, Nyewu’s brother had woken from his deep
IT WAS A RELENTLESS ATTACK ON THE DECEASED. NININI WAS GRABBED FROM BEHIND AND STRANGLED. SHE WAS HIT OVER THE HEAD
sleep in the room next door. He had gone to investigate but had been stopped by his brother and prevented from offering assistance.
Parker found that the motive for the attack was unknown. “She was savagely attacked, relentlessly, until she died,” the judge said of Ninini’s murder.
He said the 19-year-old had had a zest for life and was greatly loved by her family, but “killed for no reason whatsoever”.
He found that the murder had been premeditated. Not one of the men had shown remorse or taken responsibility for the killing, and this, he said, impacted on their chances of successful rehabilitation.
The men were between the ages of 18 and 22 years old at the time of the murder. None had previous convictions, but the acting judge found no substantial or compelling circumstances to deviate from a life sentence prescribed by minimum sentencing legislation, for murder.
The four men will spend the next 25 years behind bars. – ANA