Paul Kirk
More details about the intelligence services’ complicity in KwaZulu-Natal political violence came to light this week when it emerged that a top army spy held secret meetings with one of Richmond’s most notorious killers while the killer was being hunted by police.
Bob Ndlovu, otherwise known as “Comrade Bob”, was once described by former safety and security minister Sydney Mufamadi as the “most dangerous criminal in South Africa”. A trusted right-hand man of assassinated Richmond strongman Sifiso Nkabinde, he proved one of the most slippery criminals in South Africa’s history – it took supersleuth Director “Bushy” Engelbrecht nearly 75 full-scale military operations to catch him.
It has now emerged that while Ndlovu was on the run from Engelbrecht in 1998, a military intelligence operative in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, Captain Gracious Shoba, who was enlisted by the police to help track down Ndlovu, was in frequent contact with Ndlovu. Some investigators believe Ndlovu was tipped off about attempts by the police to arrest him.
Shoba is the military intelligence officer who recruited Bruce Mhlongo, one of the seven men charged with Nkabinde’s murder, to the intelligence fold. Mhlongo turned to become the prosecution’s chief witness in the case against Nkabinde’s alleged killers, having recently testified in the trial against the alleged assassins in the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
The Mail & Guardian reported last month that Mhlongo was in possession of equipment belonging to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) when he was arrested for Nkabinde’s murder. The M&G also confirmed Mhlongo’s handler was a senior NIA official in the province, and that Mhlongo had been handed to the NIA by Shoba.
Although police knew of at least one of the meetings between Shoba and Ndlovu, they did not act on the information, as Shoba claimed he was too scared of Ndlovu to arrest him. It has now emerged that Shoba and Ndlovu had known each other for years and that Shoba had in fact armed and trained the killer.
Shoba was one of several Transkei special forces soldiers deployed to the Natal Midlands to train prospective Umkhonto weSizwe cadres. During the late 1980s, Transkei supplied arms to the liberation movements and used their special forces to secretly train members of the self-defence units that were being formed in the townships.
Some recruits were also sent to the Transkei for training that took place largely in the Lusikisiki and Hlanganani areas. Training was also conducted in the Natal Midlands, especially in the area around Richmond.
Nkabinde, then a member in good standing of the African National Congress and friend of General Bantu Holomisa of the Transkei, facilitated military training in his area, and also gave Shoba a group of men to train as Nkabinde’s personal bodyguards.
One of this group was Ndlovu, who would later help turn Richmond into a war zone.
Engelbrecht said this week: “It was obviously not possible for Ndlovu to have personally pulled the trigger on every one of the Richmond victims. But the way Ndlovu’s group worked he had to have had a hand in all of them. No killings took place without Ndlovu’s knowledge and approval.”
Ndlovu was among the most feared men in Richmond and was certainly among the most effective killers. Engelbrecht confirmed that Ndlovu had been personally trained by Shoba.
Ndlovu is currently serving three life sentences and 30 years for the three murders and three attempted murders of policemen. He was refused leave to appeal against his sentence in May last year.
The M&G is aware of at least three alleged meetings between Shoba and Ndlovu.
Engelbrecht confirmed he was aware of one of these meetings and he had confronted Shoba about the incident. Said Engelbrecht: “I asked Captain Shoba what the story was and he assured me he was not protecting Ndlovu, but was simply protecting his own skin. He said he came across Ndlovu with a bunch of other people and that there was no way he could pull out a pistol and arrest him. Had he done so, Ndlovu would simply have killed him.”
Engelbrecht told the M&G that Shoba was studied very carefully before being accepted on his team. The reason he was eventually taken on was that it was hoped he would be able to persuade people like Ndlovu to hand themselves over peacefully or else give information on murders and crimes in the Richmond area.
Shoba saved Ndlovu from arrest at least once. After Engelbrecht’s team had mounted more than 70 operations to capture “Comrade Bob”, it devised a plan in which Shoba and another member of military intelligence were to infiltrate the area around Ndlovu’s home. Once Engelbrecht’s team had spotted Ndlovu they were to signal Engelbrecht, who would swoop in for the arrest with a crack team of heavily armed soldiers and police. A shootout was expected as Ndlovu was with a large number of his accomplices who were all heavily armed.
Instead of signalling for back-up, Shoba made a dash for the home, and in doing so alerted those inside of the imminent arrival of the police. As Shoba approached the front door, Ndlovu fled out the back, along with the friends who were with him. Police Captain Johan Meeding saw the commotion and fired a shot at one of the fleeing men, who turned out to be an innocent bystander. The man was hit in the buttocks.
Engelbrecht would only say that he was “not at all satisfied with Shoba’s actions. The guy was supposed to simply tell us if he saw Ndlovu. Not try to arrest him. I grilled the man, but everyone was of the opinion he was simply greedy and wanted to arrest the man himself and get the glory. A lot of people were very cross with him, but I accepted his explanation.”
Shoba was recently transferred out of military intelligence and now works at army headquarters in Pretoria, where he is employed by Military Town Management Services. When the M&G phoned Shoba’s office he was on sick leave and unavailable for comment.