Documentary on killer Rosemary Ndlovu a uniquely South African tale
THE director of a new documentary on notorious killer Nomia Rosemary Ndlovu believes that it is a uniquely South African tale which will have viewers glued to their screens.
Valen’tino Mathibela, the director of Rosemary’s Hitlist, which debuts on Showmax this month, explained that it was both fascinating and intriguing how she committed her crimes.
“The story is about a cop who discovered the loopholes in both the legal systems and the insurance market, which she manipulated to enrich herself by killing her family members as a trusted breadwinner,” she said.
“The audience is looking for answers where the court couldn’t afford them that satisfaction, but we also can’t air everything,” she said.
On October 12, 2015, Ndlovu’s live-in lover, Yingwani Maurice Mabasa, the father of her only living child at the time, went missing. Three days later, his body was found in Olifantsfontein – with 76 stab wounds. Mabasa had 16 policies in his name, totalling over R400 000 – and Ndlovu was the beneficiary of all of them.
These weren’t the first payouts from suspicious deaths to Ndlovu. She was eventually sentenced in 2021 to six concurrent life terms for the murders of not only Mabasa, but also five of her family members: her sister, two nephews, a niece and a cousin. Together, their “killsurance” was worth over R1.4 million to Ndlovu.
She was also sentenced to an additional 30 years: 10 years each for fraud, incitement to commit murder, and the attempted murder of her mother, Maria Mushwana, her sister Joyce, and Joyce’s five children.
Handing down the judgment, the late Judge Ramarumo Monama compared Ndlovu to the 1932 murder case of Daisy de Melker, saying South Africa hadn’t seen anything else similar in the last 89 years.
Rosemary’s Hitlist, a true crime series about the former cop’s deadly escapades, speaks to those closest to the case, including investigating officer Sergeant Keshi Mabunda and Colonel Nthipe L Boloka, her station commander at Tembisa South police station – both of whom Ndlovu was accused of trying to assassinate from within prison.
Other interviewees include Ndlovu’s prosecutor, advocate Riana Williams, and Everson Luhanga, Scrolla Africa’s editor-at-large, who originally broke the story, as well as family members of both Ndlovu and Mabasa, their landlord, and her former school teacher.
The documentary, which premiered on the local streaming platform on June 14 with new episodes released every Thursday, is directed by IdeaCandy, the company behind the Safta-winning true-crime sensation Devilsdorp.
And while Mathibela has worked on several local productions, including the first season of The Real Housewives of Durban and Lebo M – Coming Home,
she said that she jumped at the chance to be a part of this documentary.
“There was a loud outcry by the public for a documentary to be done while she was attending court under Judge Monama and I could relate with Rosemary’s background as a village girl, but there was a lot that raised my eyebrows that I wanted answers to.
“So when we met with IdeaCandy, I realised, from the surface research in that first phase, just how deep the story ran, and the shock elements that came with every discovery linked to Rosemary confirmed for me that this is one story I want to be involved with,” she said.
And what makes Rosemary’s Hitlist
even more intriguing for its director was “definitely the destruction of family by one of their own.”
“What surprised me the most about this case was how quickly she struck when she decided it’s time and the different methods of killing on all her victims.”