Durban — A Pinetown nurse convicted for the murder of her husband will serve life behind bars along with her brother who carried out the killing.
Acting Judge Bonke Dumisa on Tuesday in the Durban High Court sentenced the siblings to a further 10 years each for the kidnapping of Nkosi Timmy Langa.
Nomphumelelo Patricia Goncalves, 31, and her brother Steven Nkosinathi Zungu , 40, were convicted of the 2020 murder in April.
In 2020, Langa was tied up in his home near Hampshire Place in Pinetown by Zungu . A second hitman James Mashudu “Ramaphosa” Mthimkhulu gained access into the home through the kitchen door which had been left unlocked by Goncalves for the assailants.
Mthimkhulu, who is serving 20 years for his part in the murder, turned State witness and testified against the siblings in the trial, sealing their fate.
“She did many things to cover her tracks after this heinous crime was committed, such as admitting herself to the Westville Hospital, both accused just had no mercy no remorse throughout. Accused 2 Goncalves showed absolutely no remorse throughout the trial. In mitigation of sentence her defence read a letter of apology from her but in it, she makes no admissions about her role as a centre-stage mastermind in the kidnapping, robbery, and murder of Langa,” said Judge Dumisa in his sentence.
Langa was forced into his Isuzu X-Rider after the hitmen obtained his PIN numbers for his bank cards that were in his car, by threatening to kill him if he gave them the incorrect PIN number.
Mthimkhulu’s evidence led in court during the trial was that while in Langa’s house, they had yanked a cable cord from an iron and used it to kill Langa.
The cord was tied around Langa’s neck when they were in the dense forest, and Mthimkhulu pulled one end while Zungu pulled the other, strangling the father of one to death.
“All in all accused 2 Goncalves was a very unreliable witness who changed her evidence to suit her circumstances. She presented to this court photos that showed no wall between their house and the block of flats next to it to say that people living in those flats could have seen if any crime was being committed in their home. It was later proved that these pictures were recently taken long after the commission of the crime. The State produced pictures showing a very high wall between the two properties at the time of the kidnapping of the deceased,” said the judge.
He sentenced Goncalves to eight years combined for the two counts of defeating the ends of justice she was convicted of for opening a false missing persons case for her husband as well as falsely reporting Langa’s car stolen.
“Nurses are expected to preserve life therefore under these circumstances, this case has been found shocking to others that such a highly qualified nurse was found guilty of being the mastermind of the calculated kidnapping, robbery, and murder of Langa,” Dumisa said.
He ordered that the sentences handed down run concurrently.
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