Durban — The Durban High Court has begun reading out its judgment in the case against a Pinetown nurse alleged to have hired two hitmen, including her brother, to kidnap and kill her husband, who was a Transnet engineer.
On September 29, 2020, Nkosi Timmy Langa was allegedly forced into his Isuzu X-Rider at his home near Hampshire Place in Pinetown and taken to a forest in Ozwathini by his brother-in-law Nkosinathi Steve Zungu and James Mashudu “Ramaphosa” Mthimkhulu.
Police investigations led to Mthimkhulu’s arrest after the recovery of Langa’s car.
Mthimkhulu, who is already serving time for his part in the murder, became a State witness in the murder trial and his testimony is that he and Zungu had killed Langa at the behest of his wife, accused Nomphumelelo Patricia Goncalves, who was a nurse at Isipingo Hospital at the time of the alleged murder.
On Thursday, Acting Judge Bonke Dumisa began reading his judgment in the matter by first going through evidence that was presented to the court during the trial.
He has gone through the evidence of six witnesses, including three police officers, Langa’s sister Zodwa, and a man who testified on how and where Langa’s car tracker was removed.
As Dumisa went through Zodwa’s evidence recapping how she had described to the court that she and Langa were like twins, Zodwa broke into tears in the gallery.
He will soon begin going through the evidence of Ramaphosa, who has previously told the court how after being picked up in Durban by Goncalves, she allegedly drove them to Pinetown and dropped them off near her home, for them to wait for her signal to enter.
He said that once this was received, he, Zungu and another gained entry to the couple’s home with the gate having been left unlocked by Gonclaves, who had also said to the men that she would ensure that she and Langa were in her daughter’s room where he would not be able to access the panic button.
Mthimkhulu alleged that Zungu opened the top half of the stable door and then the bottom.
He has told the court that once inside the house Langa tried to run out of the house but they grabbed him and bound his hands behind his back with an electric cord of an iron that had been resting on an ironing board inside the house.
The three men were armed with a knife, and threatening Langa with death they forced him to give them his PINs for his bank cards in the car and then they took him with them in his car.
He said that they drove to a place out of Durban unknown to him where they went into a forest, alighted from the car, and walked with Langa further down where he was killed.
Judgment continues.
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