Slain mom had protection order against ex- boyfriend

A month before Sphiwe Ndlovu was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, a court had granted her a protection order against him. Police, however,  failed to enforce it.

On Friday, the Pretoria high court found Velly Ngondwe guilty of murder, attempted murder and arson after he torched her house two years ago while she was inside with her three children. The children escaped unharmed.

Ndlovu succumbed to her injuries two days after Ngondwe burnt down her house in Maboloka, North West.

Ndlovu’s family told Sowetan that while they were happy with the guilty verdict, the state had failed to protect her life despite death threats issued against her and her children by Ngondwe.

" The police failed us. I say this because of the two fires that happened at the spaza and at her house. Police would tell us that they don’t have proof that he was behind the fires. We knew it was him because of the threats to kill my sister and her children,” said Oupa Ndlovu, the brother of the deceased.

According to the NPA, Ngondwe burnt Ndlovu spaza shop five days after the protection order was granted. Prior to the order, Ngondwe had attempted to burn down Ndlovu’s house twice. A case of arson was opened in relation to the spaza shop.

The incident happened on October 2 2022 after Ndlovu obtained a protection order that was granted with a warrant of arrest at the Lethlabile police station on August 24. 

Yesterday, Sowetan asked Lethlabile station commander Lt-Col Al Rabe what actions police took against Ngondwe after Ndlovu on numerous occasions sought their intervention in cases of domestic violence. Rabe said she was not allowed to speak to the media and referred Sowetan to provincial police spokesperson Brig Sebata Mokgwabone, who said he would only respond on Monday. 

In her affidavit in her application for the protection order in July 2022, Ndlovu said she feared for her life.

“He is threatening to kill me and my kids and he will destroy me and my life. He is always calling me and sending threatening messages. I fear for my life,” she wrote in her application at the time. A warrant was issued with a protection order in case Ngondwe breached the order.  

NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said Ngondwe asked a friend to buy petrol for him at a garage. “In the afternoon of October 1 2022, he [Ngondwe] drove past Ndlovu’s home and told her and her three children that they were breathing for the last time that day.

"A few hours later, Ngondwe set the house alight while the woman and her children were asleep. The children sustained minor injuries while the deceased sustained burnt wounds while trying to rescue her children,” Mahanjana said. 

Ndlovu’s 20-year-old daughter told Sowetan that her mother had been asking for help from the community and the police since 2021.

“ He would threaten to burn us inside the house and even told my mother he wanted to kill her and her children.

“We would see him watching us from an abandoned home, watching our every move and threatening anyone who visits us. He would also send my mother text messages saying he was going to destroy her. Before the fire, he passed [our home] in his taxi and said: ‘You are breathing for the last time today’.”

She said Friday’s guilty verdict meant her mother would find justice although  she and her siblings are now without a home.

“He put us through so much and I don’t have a home right now. Yes, the house is still there but doesn’t have a roof or furniture – it is just a box. I am now separated from my siblings and whenever I get to speak to them, they ask me when the house will be complete so that we can all live together. I live in other people’s homes.”

Moseki Makasana, member of the community policing forum, said Ndlovu reported Ngondwe to the community ‘a lot’.

“We failed her and even some within the CPF thought [Ngondwe] was bluffing. But we tried a lot of times to speak to him and he promised to change but he never did. I was in my home when he shouted and told [Ndlovu and her kids] that they were breathing for the last time.

Makasana said the forum tried several times to intervene, but Ngondwe refused to break up with her but instead said he will change his ways.

“We failed her because we did not act, but also, what were we supposed to do? She would tell us that this man was going to kill her and that she didn’t want him anymore. We tried to speak to him a couple of times but he said he loved her. We would talk to him and he would assure us that he won’t harm her anymore.”

He is expected back in court on June 10 for sentencing proceedings. 

chabalalaj@sowetan.co.za