Vigilante leader gets life term in prison
Convicted killer stands by his actions of kidnapping and murder
BANGIKHAYA Koni, the alleged ringleader in a string of Kraaifontein vigilante killings, stands by his actions despite being sentenced to life imprisonment. Koni is a part of a group of 16 accused who stoned and stabbed six men to death on December 9, 2014, in Wallacedene. He went into a plea and sentence agreement with the State after he was charged with six counts of kidnapping and six of murder.
Yesterday Western Cape High Court Deputy Judge President Patricia Goliath sentenced Koni to five years for each kidnapping and life imprisonment for each of the murder counts. Some of the sentences will run concurrently with the life imprisonment.
When asked by the court whether he agreed with the contents on the plea Koni said: “Yes I do. When I made this decision I was sober minded. Those thugs were either going to be killed by me or they would have killed me.”
In his plea Koni admits to taking the six deceased; Zola Gayiya, Emmanuel Barnes, Sandile Ngxabela, Sakhele Ngxabela, Lulama Dunga and Mhlanganisi Mlanjeni to a house in Ngwenya Street.
“I thereafter unlawfully and intentionally killed, the above-mentioned individuals, by stabbing them with unknown instruments and crushing them with bricks and rocks,” he said.
Koni said he did this after his “homeboy”, Tsutsutsu Ntsundu, from Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape was shot and killed, earlier in December that year.
He said Ntsundu’s brother offered to pay R3 000 as reward for information revealing the identity of his brother’s killers. The brother, after receiving some information, increased the reward by offering Koni and a group of men from Ngcobo R10 000 for the murder of Ntsundu’s killers.
The group abducted the deceased. He admits that he took a stone and hit one of the deceased and thereafter the group stoned the deceased and stabbed them with swords and sharp objects to ensure they were dead.
Half of the reward was saved up in case of any arrests and bail requirements.
Outside court, Nofumile Ngxabela said she was happy with the sentence.
She said since the death of her two sons, her life had changed and her health deteriorated.
“I had to sell my house for the funeral arrangements. My sons were not thugs as he said in court. Yes, Sakhele was convicted for murder, but he did his time. They smoked their stuff, but I never witnessed any theft in my house,” she said.