THE three men accused of murdering Gabisile Shabane (13) and her nephew Nkosikhona Ngwenya (15 months) were found guilty on Wednesday, 27 October.
Judge Heinrich Brauckmann of the Mpumalanga High Court sitting in Middelburg found sangoma Thokozani Msibi (36), Knowledge Mhlanga (28) and Brilliant Mkhize (26) guilty of kidnapping, murder and violation of a corpse.
“The murder was planned carefully and executed. Body parts were harvested. Nkosikhona’s murder was unnecessary since he was not living with albinism. When throwing him over the bridge, they knew he was going to die,” said the judge.
Accomplice, Mfanasibili Gamedze, died last December in an eSwatini prison. In January, accused Themba Thubana died in prison in Barberton. Thubana admitted to the crime in 2019 and was sentenced to two life terms. The men broke into where Gabisile, who was living with albinism, and Nkosikhona lived in January 2018. They killed her and took her body parts for muthi. They threw Nkosikhona into a river from a bridge on the N4. Gabisile’s body was found in a shallow grave in Cullinan.
Speaking for the Shabane family, Nompumelelo Ngwenya said: “The case has been dragging on for too long and we felt like we were arrested together with the accused.”
Gabisile’s twin sister Khanyisile wrote an emotional letter, which was read in court. “Since her death, life was never the same and it was difficult,” read the letter, in part.
The date for the sentencing is today, Thursday, 28 October.
