serving a twenty-seven-year sentence for murder and robbery at Ncome
Prison near Vryheid, ‘confessed’ that Nokwanda had offered him R 120
000 to kill her husband. He claimed that while being held at Barberton
Prison in Mpumalanga, he was ‘secretly released on March 21 2005
under the pretext that he was admitted to hospital’. He was then driven
through the night to Bloemfontein, where he was introduced to
Nokwanda and her sister. He claimed to have shot Ngombane ‘after
Nokwanda opened the door and gave the go-ahead’.^22
Sibisi’s claim could only be described as wild and outlandish. For
starters, Ngombane was shot outside, as clearly indicated by the yellow
chalk marks made by the police where they found the bullet casings in
the driveway.^23 The NPA eventually agreed, indicating that an
investigation had found Sibisi’s claim contained ‘no substance’.^24 In
September 2007 , the NPA formally withdrew all charges against the
five accused.
It was an embarrassing U-turn. After a cocksure stance that had been
echoed by Selebi, the NPA now said its prima facie case against the
accused was too weak to pursue. ‘After consultation with the witnesses
and further investigation we came to the conclusion that there was no
reasonable chance of a successful prosecution,’ Du Toit told the
press.^25
An NPA insider told me that the police’s investigation had been weak
from the outset, but that there was massive pressure to prosecute
somebody. ‘Everybody wanted the NPA to prosecute,’ he recalled.
When Du Toit announced that the case against Nokwanda and her co-
accused would be withdrawn, he added that the police would continue
their investigation and that a judicial inquiry would be held into the
matter.^26 The inquiry kicked off in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court
nora
(Nora)
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