Killer-cop still employed by metro

THE family of a man killed by a traffic officer convicted of his murder six months ago are furious that he is still employed by the City of Ekurhuleni.

The killer-cop, Sydney Nkabinde, even served in the Ekurhuleni mayor’s VIP Protection Unit despite the murder and corruption charges hanging over his head.

And Nkabinde has failed in his bid to offer R500 000 compensation to the family of the motorist he killed during a bribe quarrel, in exchange for a light sentence in the high court in Joburg.

The family of Vuyo Xakane, 28, rejected Nkabinde’s offer and now want to know why Nkabinde, who was convicted of murder and corruption in December last year, is still employed in Ekurhuleni’s VIP Protection Unit, whose duty is to protect mayor Mzwandile Masina.

Nkabinde is on extended bail, with sentencing expected to be handed down next month.

The deceased’s mother, Mylene Sitshoni, said the family did not have to think twice about turning down his offer of compensation.

“We had to reject the offer. It was easy to do it. Had we accepted, it would mean that we accept that a person could kill another person, compensate the victim’s family and then walk away.

“That’s wrong,” Sitshoni said yesterday.

“My son is dead. How am I supposed to tell his children that the family accepted money for his death?” the mother asked.

She added that the deceased’s three-year-old son was told that his father had died in a car accident.

Ekurhuleni metro police department (EMPD) spokesperson Wilfred Kgasago confirmed that Nkabinde was still in their employ, but that a disciplinary hearing had been held to determine his future.

Said Kgasago: “The internal investigation on the matter was finalised about three months ago. The chairperson appointed will make his final decision as soon as he has received all the paperwork pertaining to the recommendations and the arguments submitted by the officer’s defence team.

“Officer Nkabinde has been redeployed to do administrative work at one of the EMPD offices,” he added.

Nkabinde is a decorated officer, having worked as a former police informant and in the VIP Protection Unit. He also worked for the Ekurhuleni metro as supervisor of the metro’s freeway unit.

And he supervised the escorting of international teams during the 2010 Fifa World Cup as well as foreign presidents. One of his recent jobs was to escort Judge Colin Lamont to court after he received death threats during the trial of Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir, which Judge Lamont presided over.

In January 2015, Nkabinde stopped a suspect Mercedes-Benz being driven by Xakane with two passengers on the N3 near Alberton. The officer wanted to issue Xakane with a speeding fine, but the occupants wanted to offer him a bribe in the form of a stolen camera. There was also housebreaking equipment in the car.

The driver took the camera out of the car with the intention of bribing him, but the police officer shot him multiple times. The driver died en route to hospital.

“The EMPD officer continued shooting at the fleeing car, now driven by one of the passengers. The camera was found in the policeman’s vehicle,” said Independent Police Investigative Directorate spokesperson Moses Dlamini.

Nkabinde’s attorney Clarence Botha shocked the court last week when he asked that his client be given a correctional supervision sentence in exchange for using R500 000 from his pension to support the deceased’s family.

Botha said the money could be put in a trust and would be useful to help the deceased’s mother, whose only source of income was from a taxi that her son had left behind.

The compensation was initially suggested in the pre-sentence report compiled by a private social worker, Elza Cilliers, which was also questioned by the court.

Former Ekurhuleni mayor Duma Nkosi, who worked with the accused, described him as an excellent employee.

Slain motorist’s family furious that he hasn’t been fired