Flabba's killer Sindisiwe Manqele freed on parole after serving six years

Sindisiwe Manqele, who was convicted of murdering hip-hop star Nkululeko “Flabba” Habedi in 2016, is officially a free woman. 

The department of correctional services said she was placed on parole, effectively from Tuesday.

In a statement, the department said the decision was taken by the correctional supervision and parole board after it assessed Manqele's profile as submitted by the case-management committee and other material presented for the purposes of parole consideration.

Manqele admitted to stabbing Skwatta Kamp member Habedi, 37, in the chest on March 9 2015 at his Alexandra, Johannesburg, home but pleaded not guilty to murder, saying she had acted in self-defence.

She was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment for murder in March 2016. 

“In arriving at its decision, the parole board took into consideration that Ms Manqele has a positive support system. Her parole placement is in line with section 73 of the Correctional Services Act, which determines the minimum period of sentence that must be served before consideration may be granted for possible placement,” correctional services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said.

Nxumalo sad Manqele “takes responsibility for the offence she committed and is remorseful about it”.

“She completed all the identified programmes as per her correctional sentence plan and participated in the victim-offender dialogue in 2018.

“It is critical to highlight that parole placement is not the end of the sentence, as Manqele will complete the remainder of the sentence in the system of community corrections, whereby she is expected to comply with a specific set of conditions and will be subjected to supervision until her sentence expires on May 23 2028,” Nxumalo said.

Nxumalo said parole placement forms part of the total rehabilitation programme in correcting offending behaviour and may include continuation of programmes aimed at reintegration while in the system of community corrections.

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