Bruce Mhlongo, the new state witness in the Sifiso Nkabinde case, was registered and paid as a police agent, report Ivor Powell and Paul Kirk
Two guns used to assassinate Richmond warlord Sifiso Nkabinde have been traced back to the Pietermaritzburg branch of the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) murder and robbery unit – where one of the alleged key conspirators in the killing, Bruce Mhlongo, was registered and paid as a police agent.
The police murder and robbery unit R-5 assault rifles were stolen in what have been described as “highly suspicious circumstances”. The weapons were removed from the unit’s premises without any sign of forced entry.
The state alleges the rifles were stolen in August 1998 by one of the Nkabinde accused, Bongani Ndlovu, a close associate of Mhlongo. A close relative of Mhlongo was a serving member of the Pietermaritzburg murder and robbery unit at the time, with the rank of sergeant.
Mhlongo is listed as an informer for the murder and robbery unit. Mail & Guardian investigations have established that he is also listed as an informer for the police crime intelligence service, formerly the internal security branch.
Last week’s decision by Organised Crime and Public Safety Deputy Director Chris McAdam to drop charges against Mhlongo in exchange for his testimony as a state witness against the other seven accused was met with outrage in the legal community and the public.
McAdam was out of the country and not available for comment, but Sipho Ngwena of the National Directorate for Public Prosecutions said McAdam’s office had little comment to make except that “it is the prerogative of the prosecution to use anyone as a state witness”.
Police sources traced approximately R10 000 paid out to Mhlongo in his capacity as a police informer. Most of this money was apparently paid for information about alleged bank robberies.
Mhlongo, the first of the eight suspects to be arrested in connection with the drive-by shooting of Nkabinde outside a supermarket in Richmond in January this year, is currently under investigation for 28 murders in and around the strife- torn Richmond area.
He has also been named in written submissions to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as having been involved in several bank robberies and cash-in-transit heists, as well as other criminal actions.
Only weeks ago, during bail hearings for the eight suspects charged with the killing of the United Democratic Movement warlord, investigator Superintendent Clifford Marion opposed bail, claiming that Mhlongo was suspected of having killed two potential witnesses to the Nkabinde killing – Bongani Magaso, an early co-conspirator in the killing of Nkabinde, and another man.
Marion also said the state had evidence Mhlongo was planning to kill three other potential witnesses in the case. Addressing the court, Marion described Mhlongo as a hit man, a professional bank robber and a potential menace not only to society but to the progress of the trial as well.
Mhlongo is no stranger to the role of state witness. On two earlier occasions he walked free after turning state witness in criminal cases. The first of these was a robbery of Nedbank in Pietermaritzburg. Here an innocent pedestrian was killed as Mhlongo and his gang shot it out with security guards. The robbery was a failure as the robbers escaped empty-handed.
The next time Mhlongo turned state witness in exchange for indemnity was for his role in a cash-in-transit heist in Cedara. A gang, allegedly led by Mhlongo, robbed a pension delivery by Springbok Patrols. One of the gang, Phendukelwe Bhengu, was shot dead, while another, Bright Mthembu, was wounded and captured.
Two police service pistols as well as a police identity document were recovered from the scene afterward. All the alleged robbers except Mhlongo were serving members of the SAPS, some former colleagues in the VIP protection unit which Mhlongo joined in 1994 – leaving only days after signing on.
Mthembu would later die while participating in another armed robbery at Isipingo. Mhlongo, though wounded by a shotgun blast, escaped in a white bakkie and later also escaped prosecution in circumstances that have yet to be explained.
One of the reasons given for the failure of the state to prosecute Mhlongo in the Cedara robbery was that the investigation docket went, unaccountably, missing from the murder and robbery unit offices in Pietermaritzburg.
This, and the disappearance of a string of other high-profile dockets resulted in Pinetown murder and robbery unit detectives being tasked with investigating their counterparts in Pietermaritzburg. The Pinetown cops were also investigating the alleged involvement of the Pietermaritzburg unit in a series of armed robberies.
The M&G was unable to establish what, if any, progress was made with this investigation. Two policemen who were alleged to have lost dockets on a regular basis are still serving with the unit.
The decision to drop charges against Mhlongo – originally accused number two in the case – in exchange for his testimony has landed former state witness Siphiwe Shabane back on the list of the accused. The state has cast Shabane as a minor player in the murder, recruited by Mhlongo. He has no prior convictions.
By contrast the evidence against Mhlongo is that he was the key figure in the execution of the assassination, which, the state alleges was planned by accused number one, Richmond African National Congress councillor Joel Mkhize.
Mhlongo, who allegedly arranged the logistics of the hit, later claimed he was owed money as payment by the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal.
Nkabinde further damned Mhlongo. Days before his murder he contacted a reporter and offered to supply information on a number of armed robberies in and around Pietermaritzburg.
Nkabinde claimed he and Mhlongo were the masterminds behind a number of robberies. He also said he was not worried about going to jail for his role as he was convinced he would be killed within days.
Nkabinde defected from the ANC after allegations were made that he was a security branch informer. After leaving the ANC he became the party’s most vocal critic and often accused senior members of the ANC of complicity in bank robberies.