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IOL News
21-05-2025
- IOL News
Life sentences for men convicted of ambushing and ruthlessly murdering Cape Town officers
The Western Cape High Court sentenced cop killers Image: Patrick Louw / Independent Newspapers The Western Cape High Court has handed down two life sentences and an additional 60 years of direct imprisonment to four men convicted of the brutal, premeditated murders of two City of Cape Town law enforcement officers. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila confirmed that Ndumiso Lutshetu, Ashwin Kennedy, Bongani Mvamveki, and Malibongwe Witbooi were found guilty of the cold-blooded killings of Jan Nieuwenhuys and Simthembile Nyangiwe, and have now been sentenced for the violent crime. The two officers were gunned down in broad daylight on 4 September 2019 while on duty, guarding a construction site at Sweet Home Farms in Samora Machel. They were ambushed while sitting in a marked patrol vehicle, having just returned from their lunch break. The court also convicted the accused on two counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, illegal possession of firearms, and illegal possession of ammunition. In addition to the life sentences for the murders, each was sentenced to 15 years' direct imprisonment for each count of robbery, and a further 15 years each for the weapons charges. Judge Daniel Thulare ordered these sentences to run concurrently with the life sentences. All four were declared unfit to possess firearms. The sentencing followed a meticulous investigation and a prosecution led by Advocate Carl Gertse of the NPA's Organised Crime Component. The case hinged on compelling circumstantial evidence, including forensic analysis, post-mortem reports, and police testimony. The court heard that the slain officers had been protecting workers from Usher Construction at a site often targeted by criminal gangs. According to the evidence, the attackers struck with ruthless efficiency. Their colleagues, stationed in another vehicle across the site, rushed over after hearing gunfire to discover the officers' bullet-riddled bodies. A coordinated manhunt was immediately launched. Acting on a vital tip-off from an informant, Warrant Officer Nguma, a Commander of the Crime Prevention Unit at the Samora Machel Police Station led a joint task force of 10 police officers and 18 soldiers to Ramaphosa Informal Settlement. Within two hours of the attack, all four suspects were arrested. The informer had accompanied the task team to identify the specific shack the accused were hiding in—essential in an area with no formal addresses. Despite pleading not guilty and attempting to dismiss the case through a Section 174 application under the Criminal Procedure Act, the State successfully opposed the move, and the trial proceeded. During closing arguments, Gertse emphasised the execution-style nature of the killings and the sheer volume of cartridges recovered at the scene. He argued that the primary motive was to obtain the officers' firearms and that had the accused not been swiftly apprehended, further crimes may have followed. Judge Thulare, in his judgment, condemned the act as a targeted effort to intimidate the City of Cape Town. He stated that the attackers sent a chilling message: 'Even with your deployment of law enforcement officers, you can't stop us, for we will kill and rob your guards in broad daylight.' He recognised the killings as part of a broader crime intending to intimidate the municipality into submission to the gangs' dictates. 'This was a direct attack on the State and its authority,' said Adv. Nicolette Bell, Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions. 'An attack on law enforcement is an attack on government itself. It cannot be overemphasised how important it is to ensure that those who commit such crimes receive the maximum sentences our courts can hand down. The NPA will be vigorous in its pursuit of perpetrators of such crimes to ensure their sentences serve as a deterrent." [email protected] Weekend Argus
IOL News
29-04-2025
- Business
- IOL News
VAT hike court case exposes ‘GNU fallacy'
The minister also at the weekend settled out of court with the DA and the EFF on the issue to set the VAT hike aside, with the Western Cape High Court subsequently ratifying the agreement on Sunday. Image: Patrick Louw THE judiciary's involvement in the VAT dispute between coalition partners lays bare a troubling reality; the GNU's Statement of Intent and its Clearing House Mechanism are proving woefully inadequate as instruments of governance, unable to mediate conflicts effectively or maintain coalition stability. This is according to political analyst Siseko Maposa, following Finance minister Enoch Godongwana's agreement to a court order suspending his decision to hike VAT by 0.5%. The court order comes after the ANC had already announced the suspension of the VAT hike last week following negotiations with parties both inside and outside the GNU. The minister also, at the weekend, settled out of court with the DA and the EFF on the issue to set the VAT hike aside, with the Western Cape High Court subsequently ratifying the agreement on Sunday. 'Minister Godongwana maintains that his initial budget proposal of March 12, 2025 was constitutional and appropriate given the limited options available to balance fiscal sustainability with service delivery needs. However, recognising that the proposal no longer enjoyed sufficient parliamentary support to pass into law, he made the decision to withdraw it. While proposed reluctantly, the VAT increase was considered less detrimental to economic growth and employment than alternatives examined by the National Treasury. The withdrawal creates a medium-term revenue shortfall of approximately R75 billion, necessitating decreased government expenditure with likely impacts on service delivery,' said Treasury. While the presiding officers of parliament welcomed the agreement on Monday, they said that it was not an omission of procedural irregularities. 'Parliament affirms that in entering into the settlement, it had not conceded that the parliamentary processes followed in adopting the Fiscal Framework were unlawful or procedurally defective. The decision to reach consensus was motivated by the recognition that new developments had overtaken the original framework. The Minister earlier withdrew the Division of Revenue Bill [B7–2025] and the Appropriation Bill [B6–2025], and introduced the Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Bill [B14–2025], which maintains the VAT rate at 15%. "The settlement, which has been made an order of the Cape High Court, brings resolution to a complex matter of significant national importance,' said Parliamentary spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo. The court outcome enabled Godongwana to table revised budget instruments afresh, he said. Briefing the media on Monday, EFF leader Julius Malema joined calls for Godongwana to resign. He said National Treasury director-general, Duncan Pieterse should also quit. The VAT debacle revealed the fragility of the GNU, according to Maposa, director of Surgetower Associates Management Consultancy. Most concerning, he said, was the growing spectre of 'judicial overreach, which threatens to distort the separation of powers and demands vigilant scrutiny to safeguard both democratic integrity and institutional balance'. 'It has become evident that within the GNU there remains a contentious tug-of-war between the ANC and DA. Added, the judiciary's intervention in coalition disputes reveals the inadequacy of the GNU Statement of Intent and Clearing House Mechanism as governance tools, failing to mediate conflicts efficiently. This points to a deeper structural tension – whether policy should emerge through collective bargaining or ANC dominance – a rift that risks prolonged policy gridlock that could destabilise the business climate and erode the GNU's legitimacy,' said Maposa. Policy analyst Nkosikhulule Nyembezi said the entire debacle could trigger a cabinet reshuffle. 'The GNU's political dashboard is flashing a yellow caution light after the ANC's push for an unpopular fiscal framework and tax increase faced the first major political tests of President Cyril Ramaphosa's second term. And within 48 hours, Ramaphosa could make it go red. The High Court decision reversing Finance Minister Godongwana's budget was the week's belching noise that could trigger a cabinet reshuffle,' Nyembezi said. Economist Mushtak Parker said one way of making up some of the expenditure shortfall, at least in the immediate future, could be through 'any additional revenue collected by SARS.'
