Africa-Press – South-Africa. A KwaZulu-Natal woman was given a life sentence after she plotted to kill her husband by hiring two contract killers.
Penelope Phumelele Zulu, 56, was sentenced in the Pietermaritzburg High Court sitting in Madadeni, where she was handed a life sentence for the murder of her estranged husband, Nkosinathi Sipho Zulu, in April 2016.
After their relationship went sour and they stopped living together, Zulu enlisted the assistance of Khanyisani Biyela, promising to pay R80 000 for the murder of her husband, said National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Natasha Kara on Monday.
Biyela then got Mandlenkosi Shezi to assist in committing the crime.
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“On the day of the incident, they fetched Nkosinathi from a petrol station, drove him to an isolated area and shot him. He died at the scene, with the cause of death being a brain injury due to a penetrating gunshot wound in the head,” said Kara.
She said they fled the scene, but were arrested after police viewed video footage at the petrol station. It showed Nkosinathi getting into Shezi’s motor vehicle. At that stage, Shezi implicated the others, Kara said.
Biyela was convicted in March 2021 and was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment.
Shezi died in 2021 while out on bail.
In court, the senior State advocate, Nkonzwenhle Mlotshwa, led the testimony of Nkosinathi’s girlfriend, who implicated Zulu, as well as bank records which showed Zulu had paid Shezi R50 000 as part payment for killing her husband.
Mlotshwa also told the court Zulu had taken out more than 11 funeral policies on Nkosinathi, electing herself as the beneficiary.
In aggravation of sentence, Mlotshwa led the testimonies of Nkosinathi’s aunt and uncle. They described him as an exemplary person, who took care of his family members.
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