Captain Strike Ngubane and his team of detectives slept on the floor without blankets in Msinga, KwaZulu-Natal, to arrest a killer they wanted for the murder of Sakhumzi restaurant manager Kwesi Hudson.
Ngubane, the lead detective in the serious and violent crimes unit at Orlando police station in Soweto was instrumental in the arrest and conviction of Njabulo Ngubane, 24, for the 2017 murder.
The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg last week sentenced the 24-year-old killer to life in prison.
Two weeks after the murder of Hudson, who was shot several times, Njabulo had attempted to rob another business in Msinga, Ngubane said.
The community of Msinga apprehended him and called the police. This led to the Orlando detectives leaving Soweto overnight. "We had to leave the province abruptly based on the information we had at our disposal," Ngubane said.
"We didn't even have blankets, we slept on the floor at the old police barracks."
For six months, Ngubane, who has been an officer for over 30 years, had to oscillate between KZN and Soweto to secure crucial evidence against the killer. They found he had worked with five other Ngubanes to commit several crimes between Johannesburg and Msinga.
Top cop lies in wait and strikes
Captain Strike Ngubane and his team of detectives slept on the floor without blankets in Msinga, KwaZulu-Natal, to arrest a killer they wanted for the murder of Sakhumzi restaurant manager Kwesi Hudson.
Ngubane, the lead detective in the serious and violent crimes unit at Orlando police station in Soweto was instrumental in the arrest and conviction of Njabulo Ngubane, 24, for the 2017 murder.
The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg last week sentenced the 24-year-old killer to life in prison.
Two weeks after the murder of Hudson, who was shot several times, Njabulo had attempted to rob another business in Msinga, Ngubane said.
The community of Msinga apprehended him and called the police. This led to the Orlando detectives leaving Soweto overnight. "We had to leave the province abruptly based on the information we had at our disposal," Ngubane said.
"We didn't even have blankets, we slept on the floor at the old police barracks."
For six months, Ngubane, who has been an officer for over 30 years, had to oscillate between KZN and Soweto to secure crucial evidence against the killer. They found he had worked with five other Ngubanes to commit several crimes between Johannesburg and Msinga.
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"These boys are young. Njabulo is barely 24 but he and his gang have been committing crimes between here [Joburg] and Msinga. They are nomadic, robbing, hijacking and murdering people."
He said the killer had worked with Mduduzi Ngcobo, 21, who provided information about the money stolen after their first Sakhumzi robbery in 2016.
Ngcobo is facing charges of robbery for his part in the 2016 robbery where they made off with about R90000.
"Ngcobo would help with counting the money and knew when it would be taken to the bank.
"In January, they received information from Ngcobo about the amount of money on the premises but they couldn't get in because Njabulo shot Hudson who refused them entry."
Despite securing a life sentence for Njabulo, Ngubane said he was having sleepless nights as he was yet to arrest the remaining gang members.
Sakhumzi Restaurant manager’s killer gets life sentence
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