One of South Africa’s most senior prison officials has been linked to a slew of political assassinations
Paul Kirk
KwaZulu-Natal’s newly appointed deputy director of correctional services, Russel Ngubo, is being investigated by the elite Scorpion unit and the police for at least 30 murders.
Ngubo – who is also an African National Congress councillor for Impendle outside Pietermaritzburg – has been under investigation by police since 1994 for allegedly murdering his political opponents, assassinating witnesses and intimidating those who have stood in his way of promotion at work. He has never been prosecuted – the witnesses in all the investigations against him having either vanished or been found murdered.
Last month he was appointed to the post of deputy director of KwaZulu-Natal’s Department of Correctional Services, a position from which he controls human resources in the province’s prisons.
The Mail & Guardian has obtained a dossier compiled by the police Crime Intelligence Service and the now-defunct National Investigative Task Unit into Ngubo’s activities in the rural areas of Stoffelton and Impendle.
The documents, which are also in the possession of the provincial Department of Correctional Services, provide an extraordinary account of Ngubo’s alleged efforts to assassinate a string of political opponents and witnesses. In one instance Ngubo allegedly assembled a hit squad to eliminate a family loyal to the Inkatha Freedom Party, wiped out the wrong family and then returned to carry out the planned hit.
The Department of Correctional Services this week acknowledged the probes into Ngubo, but said he had never been convicted of any of these murders as key witnesses had consistently disappeared.
The police documents on the Stoffelton and Impendle killings trace the political tension in the area back to 1992, when an IFP strongman, Master Shelembe, opened an IFP branch. He was shot dead soon afterwards.
The documents say Shelembe’s successor, Nash Ngubane, was abducted by men wearing police uniforms, tortured and killed. The police documents claim that Ngubo came to be in possession of Ngubane’s rifle soon afterwards – indicating he may have been involved in the murder.
The dossier details how the IFP attacked Ngubo’s kraal in retaliation for the murder. The attack was repulsed and Ngubo’s brother, with four police officers from the Pietermaritzburg dog unit and their dogs, were shot dead when they attempted to investigate the murders. (Ngubo’s brother Aaron – who died in the incident – bore an uncanny resemblance to Ngubo himself. Police suspect the crowd attacked the police and Aaron, believing them to be Ngubo and his hit squad returning to their area.)
After his brother’s murder, a police investigator told the M&G this week, Ngubo declared all-out war on the IFP, with the assistance of several members of the South African Police Service.
The documents state: “Russel Ngubo has recruited three (3) policemen from the Impendle police station to assist him with his aims and objectives. [The M&Gis not publishing their names, which are given in the document, because it could not trace them.] Ngubo is definitely the brains behind the attacks on IFP leaders in the Impendle area. A sworn statement has been obtained from a witness by detectives to this effect.”
The dossier lists a litany of crimes associated with Ngubo: “Since the hit- squad activities started in the above areas Russel Ngubo made use of two different groups. The first group consisted of four members of which one is known [again, the M&G is not publishing his name as it could not trace him], whereas the other three members can be identified by the source … The group realised that criminal cases are being investigated against Russel Ngubo, and it is a known fact that he [Ngubo] will be arrested in the future. After becoming aware of this fact the group withdrew from working with Ngubo. After their withdrawal Ngubo established a second group.”
One of the documents gives a summary of
murder cases dating back to before Ngubo’s alleged killing machine got into full swing:
l “Nash Ngubane: Russel Ngubo together with the first group were involved in the kidnapping and murder of Ngubane. A Toyota Corolla vehicle with ‘Imbizo’ engraved on the back window was used. The licensed shotgun of Ngubo was used to kill Ngubane …”
l “Mgudleni Madlala: During the killing of Mgudleni Madlala at the tribal court Inzinga, two members of the first group were dropped near the scene by a red vehicle. The persons responsible for the killing can be identified by the source.”
l “Mshengu: After the killing of four (4) policemen and the informer (brother of Ngubo), Russel Ngubo was furious and a few days after the incident he and the first group followed Mshengu in a white Toyota Corolla, registration SYG552T, travelling toward Impendle. Whilst passing Mshengu’s vehicle near Henley dam the group shot toward Mshengu, fatally wounding him.”
The notes also mention Ngubo’s alleged personal involvement in the death of another two men, David Molefe and Damasius Khumalo.
The document also covers one of Ngubo’s rare failures: “The murder of four (4) Stoffelton residents on 1996-11-09, Bulwer CAS 23/11/96 refers … A cultural feast was being held at a house at Stoffelton. During the feast IFP members from Nqumeni (Bulwer) attended. Russel Ngubo heard about the visit of the IFP members whereafter he mobilised the second group and attacked the house where the feast was being held. Instead of attacking the house with the IFP supporters they attacked the wrong house in the same kraal and shot other community members from Stoffelton.”
The report offers an explanation as to why Ngubo is so hard to prosecute: “The only witness statements available is that of Nash Ngubane’s wife, where she identified a person that looks like Sergeant Nkala, and witnesses who were present when Mgudleni Madlala was killed.
“This office is of the understanding that if there are any witnesses they will not come forward due to their fear of the hit squads.”
The M&G’s attempts to contact Ngubo failed. Little over a year after taking up his post as head of Pietermaritzburg’s new prison in January 1998, Ngubo was suspended for allegedly assaulting his boss. The enquiry fell apart as nobody was prepared to testify against him. His victim, Thandiwe Kgosidintsi, had been promoted into a post that Ngubo wanted for himself. During the attack on Kgosidintsi, Ngubo allegedly also urinated in her office. He was reappointed in May 1999.
Ngubo, who is also secretary of the Police and Prison Civil Rights Union in the Midlands, secured his promotion to run the new prison in Pietermaritzburg – despite the fact that he was out on bail on four counts of murder at the time. These charges were dropped when all the witnesses in the case disappeared.
At the time Ngubo was charged, he was running Newcastle prison, one of the least secure jails in the country. In one incident he allowed a long-term prisoner out of the prison to assist him in finding lost cattle. In another a prisoner escaped after smuggling a stepladder and a complete toolbox into his cell.
The most recent murder charge being
investigated against Ngubo is that of Induna Ernest Nzimande, an IFP supporter from his area, who police believe was shot dead by a hit squad run by Ngubo. A minibus taxi hired by the Department of Correctional Services was allegedly used to transport the killers to Nzimande’s home.
Officials from the Department of Correctional Services were reluctant to discuss Ngubo. One senior official said Ngubo’s associates had recently smashed a prison warder’s hand with an iron bar and then pierced his stomach with it. The warder was singled out for this treatment as he had instructed Ngubo’s friends to stop drinking alcohol while on duty. Another official said that talking about Ngubo was as good as asking to be killed or crippled.
A representative for the department, Philemon Ntuli, said: “The department is aware of the investigations at the moment. We are aware that the Scorpions have been asking questions about Mr Ngubo, but everybody is entitled to a fair trial and Mr Ngubo is innocent until proven guilty. There have been probes in the past and Mr Ngubo has never been convicted. Everything has always fallen apart in the investigations. The witnesses simply disappear before the case gets to trial and are never seen again.”