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MBABANE – “I expected at least 25 years.”
This was the reaction of a shocked Sipho Shongwe upon being sentenced to 50 years behind bars yesterday. The sentence comes approximately 21 months since he was found guilty of the murder of businessman and football administrator Victor Gamedze, who was shot at Ezulwini Galp Filling Station on January 14, 2018.
Gamedze’s murder, according to the Crown, was a contract killing at the instance of Shongwe, who denied any involvement in the commission of the offence. Mbuso ‘Ncaza’ Nkosi admitted to shooting Gamedze twice in the head, claiming to have been contracted by Shongwe to kill the businessman. Nkosi, however, was later shot dead in his home country, the Republic of South Africa, during a shootout with the police.
Yesterday, Shongwe arrived around 9:20am and, being a neatnik, he ensured the bench in the glass dock in the courtroom was dust-free. He came out of the dock when journalists were taking pictures of him and said: ‘I might as well come out for you guys to take proper pictures because it is for the last time.’.
He returned to the glass dock. However, he did not immediately sit down but remained standing and greeted his supporters and members of his family with a smile as they walked in one after the other. This continued for a while as he waited for the judge to arrive, and would at times stare quietly into the ‘distance’.
Judge Nkosinathi Maseko entered the courtroom nearly two hours after Shongwe’s arrival.
As usual, Judge Maseko greeted Shongwe: “Morning Mr Shongwe.” Shongwe responded: “Morning My Lord.” The judge instructed him to stand up and proceeded to read some portions of the judgment. Judge Maseko went on to pronounce the sentence of 50 years, which was backdated to the date of his arrest - January 19, 2018. Shongwe has been in custody ever since he was arrested. This means he will spend 28-and-a-half years behind bars.
Almost immediately after the court pronounced the sentence and the judge left the courtroom, Shongwe’s supporters and some family members, including his wife, Vuyiswa, said their goodbyes and left. Shongwe said they were shocked by the severity of the sentence.
“Bethukile (they are shocked),” said Shongwe, while waiting for his committal documents to be prepared and signed. Shongwe said he was shocked by the sentence as he expected it to be much less.
“Fifty years pho! I did not expect it to be so much. I expected at least 25 years. This is too much,” said a shocked Shongwe.
He also considered that he is above 50 years of age now. “At my age, a sentence of 50 years can only mean one thing. You can tell as well.”
In the judgment on sentence, Judge Maseko stated that it was the finding of the court that Shongwe hired or contracted the gunmen, Mbuso ‘Ncaza’ Nkosi and his accomplice Simphiwe Tata Ngubane from Eldorado Park in the Republic of South Africa. He said the main purpose of Nkosi, who testified as an accomplice witness, was to shoot and kill Gamedze.
“Indeed, after a lengthy and complicated planning between or among the accused, his right-hand man Sandile ‘Dzodzo’ Zikalala, Mbuso ‘Ncaza’ Nkosi and Simphiwe Tata Ngubane, the premeditated mission was accomplished when Victor Gamedze was eventually shot dead in cold blood at the Galp Filling Station in Ezulwini in the early evening of January 14, 2018,” said the judge. When Judge Maseko convicted Shongwe in October 2023, he described Gamedze’s shooting as a scene from a mafia film -tragic, emotionless and comical - only that it was real and serious.
Gamedze was returning from Somhlolo National Stadium where Mbabane Swallows Football Club were playing against Manzini Wanderers Football Club.
“The shooting to death of Gamedze at so much close range indeed even in this case as like a scene from a mafia film –tragic, emotionless and comical –only that it was real and serious. This is the best way to describe the tragic death of Victor Gamedze as a result of trans-border organised syndicates involving the accused, Sipho Shongwe, his friend Farouk Meyers, Dzodzo and the two, Ncaza and Tata.
“I believe that the accused and Farouk Meyers knew each other in the criminal underworld. There is no reason why Ncaza and Tata would implicate Farouk and the accused out of the blue.
“In fact, Ncaza also testified that while they were in prison, Farouk himself tried very hard to influence Ncaza to change his mind and not testify by offering him R300 and to testify that it was not Ncaza who shot Victor Gamedze but Tata and then he (Farouk) was going to make a plan that Tata dies wherever he was. Ncaza testified that he then called Tata and alerted him of Farouk’s threats,” read part of the judgment.
Meyer was an underworld kingpin and he was murdered in cold blood. Judge Maseko said the Crown’s evidence was overwhelming against Shongwe and the evidence of Nkosi and Ngubane was credible. The judge stated that their evidence was sufficiently corroborated. He said the accomplice witnesses, Nkosi and Ngubane, also corroborate each other and did not contradict themselves in material respects.
Any contradictions pointed out in their oral testimonies in court vis-à-vis their written statements, according to Judge Maseko, did not in any way affect the elaborate planning and their coming to Eswatini to kill Gamedze in the manner they did, after hunting him for three days, from Friday (January 12, 2018) until Sunday (January 14, 2018) when they eventually found and killed him at the Galp Filling Station in Ezulwini. “That evidence remains credible, trustworthy and is corroborated by the CCTV footages, the telephone records and conversations with various witnesses and the exhibits that were produced in evidence by Senior Superintendent Sikhumbuzo Fakudze and his team.
“As regard the testimony of ‘Ncaza’ and ‘Tata’, I am convinced that they testified truthfully and never exaggerated the role of ‘Dzodzo’ and the accused in this matter, and therefore, I grant them immunity from prosecution.
“The Crown has proven its case against the accused beyond reasonable doubt and he is found guilty of the murder of Victor Gamedze on January 14, 2018 at the Galp Filling Station, Ezulwini as charged and indicted by Crown,” said the judge.
Judge Maseko mentioned that the Crown led direct evidence in order to prove the commission of the offence against Shongwe. The direct evidence, according to the court, consisted of the evidence of Nkosi and Ngubane, among the 47 witnesses of the Crown. Shongwe was represented by Sanele Mabila, who instructed Advocate Johan Basson. Advocate Michael Hellens appeared for the Crown together with Macebo Nxumalo.
Full article available in our paper.
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