FAITH Ntombela, the murder-accused wife of slain Durban metro cop said a plot to kill her husband, Captain Zwelakhe Thomas Ntombela, started when she received a Facebook message from someone who pretended to be ANC provincial chairperson Siboniso Duma.
Ntombela, 43, a former employee at the Umlazi magistrate’s court, said she later learned that the person who she thought was Duma was Khulani Cele, a hitman from KwaMaphumulo who is currently serving a sentence in Kokstad Prison for other crimes. Cele is also accused in the murder case of Ntombela’s husband.
Captain Ntombela, 50, was shot at his home at Umlazi S section in May last year while closing a gate. He was hospitalised in iSipingo, where he died. He was attached to the VIP protection unit.
Ntombela on Friday pleaded guilty to all the charges in the Scottburgh High Court. The charges include murder, two counts of defeating the course of justice, and theft. After she was arrested last year she pleaded not guilty and sought bail at the uMlazi Magistrates Court but it was refused.
Her lawyer, Ashwin Rughbeer, read her plea to the court. Ntombela said that on March 22, 2023, she was approached on Facebook messenger by a person named Duma.
She communicated with this person regarding her making a certain bidding application for nutrition supplements for schools for disabled children, as she has a registered company, Cngatwa (Pty) Ltd.
“Later in that week we exchanged cellphone numbers and started to communicate via WhatsApp. I believed accused 2 (Cele) was a senior member of the ANC and because we were dealing directly with each other, I believed that the prospective business would be fruitful and that I would thus become wealthy and successful,” she said.
Ntombela said during those conversations a romance blossomed between them. However, she told Cele that she was married and that it would be an impediment.
“He assured me that I need not worry, he would sort something out,” she said.
Ntombela said at that stage he did not know what Cele intended to do. She learned that the ANC man she thought she was talking to was Cele when she went to his family in April 2023 and did shopping for them. However, she said they continued with their romance even though she knew who Cele was.
Ntombela said she grew contemptuous of her husband. She said Cele requested her to provide information on her husband’s weapons and information about the area around their home. She said she filmed everything, including where it would be easy to gain access to the firearms. She even provided a Suzuki vehicle and a firearm for the plan to go well, as requested by Cele.
She took these things to accused three in this matter Sithembiso Khumalo who is a school principal and Mandlenkosi Mzo Ntombela, the alleged hitman who pulled the trigger.
Mzo Ntombela was sentenced to 20 years’ jail after entering into a plea bargain with the State.
She said before the plan to shoot and kill Captain Ntombela, Cele had said he could arrange for her husband to be eliminated with poison. However, she said when she received the poison she couldn’t do it and the plan to shoot her husband was brought in.
The matter was adjourned to September 18.