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Alleged hitmen claimed to have done ‘jobs’ for Rosemary Ndlovu before, including murdering her ‘husband’

Convicted serial killer Rosemary Ndlovu, alleged to have been the middleman in the failed plot to kill Justice Mudau, follows the proceedings in the Kempton Park regional court.
Convicted serial killer Rosemary Ndlovu, alleged to have been the middleman in the failed plot to kill Justice Mudau, follows the proceedings in the Kempton Park regional court.
Image: Musa Magazi

The two men who informed Justice Mudau that they had been hired by his wife Nomsa to kill him told him they knew her through convicted serial killer Rosemary Ndlovu. 

"[Jabulani Petros] Mtshali told me they were introduced to my wife by Rosemary Ndlovu. They said Rosemary is a police officer from the Thembisa South police station and said they had done jobs for her — killing her family members and even her husband,” Justice told the Kempton Park regional court on Tuesday. 

Ndlovu is serving six life terms for killing six people — including her sister, nephews, niece and lover, Maurice Mabasa. The six were found brutally murdered between 2012 and 2018. 

Nomsa Mudau was also a policewoman, stationed in Norkem Park.

Mtshali and Njabulo Vincent Kunene had met Justice on February 25 2018 — just two days after they had allegedly met Nomsa and discussed a plan to have Justice killed. Nomsa had been wearing her police uniform at the time, Kunene told the court on Monday.

In a twist, Justice said the two supposed hitmen offered to spare his life and kill Nomsa instead. 

Taking the court back to that day, Justice said a Venda-speaking man he referred to as Walter [Musanda] had come to his house. 

He alleged that Musanda informed him he had come to his house with two men who wanted to share extremely important information with him. 

“Walter asked me how long I had been with my wife. I answered 13 years. Walter informed me that my wife had hired some people to kill me. I asked him what could I have done wrong for that to happen,” said Justice. 

He claimed Musanda was pained and had even cried as he spoke to him. 

Musanda allegedly offered to take Justice to the men who had been parked around the corner, just two houses away. Justice said that sparked fear and panic in him, and he ran back to his yard. 

“I did not know Walter at all. I suspected that Walter was a thug himself,” said Justice.

Justice claimed Musanda begged him to be brave and come out to hear the two hired men out. Justice agreed but first started off at his neighbour’s house, asking him to keep watch and note the registration of the vehicle the men were travelling in. 

When she [Nomsa] arrived at the house, she asked for me to forgive her. I asked ‘forgiveness for what?’ as she had denied doing this [in court]
Justice Mudau

Justice said he found Kunene and Mtshali in the vehicle. 

He said Mtshali was the more talkative one and alleged he had been approached by Nomsa to kill Justice. 

“I asked what wrong I had done to deserve this. The men told me that my wife said I was cheating on her and troubling her,” Justice testified.

“I asked them, for such a big job — killing me for something I did not even know of — how much had they been offered? Mtshali answered and said they were promised R80,000, which would be paid after I had been killed. They were expecting a further R70,000 after the insurance policies had paid out,” said Justice. 

He said as he sat in the car, face to face with the men who had been hired to kill him, he pleaded for his life. 

“I said to them, ‘Good people, have mercy for me. Please do not kill me.’

“Mtshali replied and said they could see that I was a good person and that the problematic person was in fact, my wife. 

“They said they could kill her instead, depending on how much I have for them.”

Justice, however, demurred, saying he did not believe in taking a life. He instead offered to give the hitmen R1,000 to thank them for informing him about his wife's alleged plans. He planned to meet them later that day to give them the cash.

A day after the revelations, Justice claimed he fled to Limpopo, telling Nomsa he was going to check on his sick child. 

He later opened a case against his then wife and Ndlovu, and the pair were arrested. 

Justice claimed his wife spent about two weeks behind bars and was then released on bail. 

“When she [Nomsa] arrived at the house, she asked for me to forgive her. I asked ‘forgiveness for what?’ as she had denied doing this [in court],” said Justice. 

It was then Nomsa allegedly spilt the beans. 

“She said she was influenced by her friend, Rosemary Ndlovu, to get him killed. I asked about details on this Rosemary, and she told me they met at the Thembisa South police station, where Rosemary was working as a police sergeant,” Justice said. 

Justice said he told Nomsa that not only he but his entire family had been wronged by her, so forgiving her would be tough.

Nomsa reportedly begged, saying this would ruin her life and career. She offered to travel to Limpopo to apologise to Justice’s family.

Mudau said he had every reason to believe the allegations made by the hitmen because they knew where he worked, had pictures of his car and produced telephonic evidence that they were in communication with his wife. 

“They gave a detailed description of my workplace, even of my work schedule.”

He said the hitmen also asked him about the lunch boxes he was no longer eating. 

“My wife was packing my cooked lunches, but at one point I believed she had poured poison in my food,” said Justice, not elaborating further. 

Justice claimed that in the event of his death, Nomsa stood to benefit from funeral policies from his workplace, amounting to R1.5m. She also stood to cash out on his pension payout. The house they had owned and his BMW would also have been inherited by Nomsa. 

Justice has since divorced her. 

Nomsa and Ndlovu have pleaded not guilty to the charges of conspiracy to commit murder as well as a charge of incitement to murder Justice. 

While Nomsa avoided eye contact with her former husband, Ndlovu sat in the dock in her floral dress, staring at Justice and chewing gum. 

Their lawyer requested that the case be postponed to July 6 while they verified the insurance details which were provided by Justice.

After much resistance from the state, the court granted the postponement. 

TimesLIVE

 

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