'She asked us to kill her husband': Ex-cop Nomsa Mudau on trial with serial killer Rosemary Ndlovu

Convicted serial murderer and ex-cop Rosemary Ndlovu appeared in the Kempton Park regional court alongside a former colleague on Monday for a fresh trial where she faces a charge of conspiracy to commit murder. 

Ndlovu is charged alongside Nomsa Mudau. Ndlovu was a police officer at the Thembisa police station while Mudau was stationed in Norkem Park. 

The two are accused of conspiring to kill Mudau's now ex-husband, Justice. His life was allegedly spared because the “hitmen” had warned him about his wife.

After being told about the charges levelled against them, Mudau and Ndlovu told the court they pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

The pair said they were opting to use their right to remain silent on their defence for now.

The trial began with the first witness, Njabulo Vincent Kunene, taking the witness box. Kunene is alleged to have been one of the men approached to kill Justice.

He testified that he received a call from his friend Jabulani Mtshali in February 2018. 

“He asked me to come to his place at a hostel in Thembisa. When I got there, he told me that there is a lady who is a police officer in Norkem Park who is requesting that he do a job for her. After he had stated that, we waited for the call from the lady. He just referred to her as Mudau,” Kunene told the court.

“The cop then called and asked that we meet at a complex called Zniko. She asked that we keep time, saying that she was heading to work for night shift.”

They walked to Zniko and after a few phone calls met up with Mudau near a bottle store. 

“I was introduced to Mudau as July — a name that I am usually referred to by the guys. She asked us if we could help her. She asked that we kill her husband for her, saying that he was troubling her and cheating on her. She was speaking in isiZulu,” said Kunene. 

“I was looking at her — straight in the eye — because there she was, dressed in full police uniform, asking me to go and commit murder.”

He said he could identify the woman in court. He pointed at Mudau, who sat in the dock alongside with Ndlovu. Mudau, who wore a face mask to hide her face, looked straight ahead, showing no emotion. 

Earlier, she and Ndlovu had chatted casually in the courtroom. 

Ndlovu appeared calm, even saying “do you never get tired?” as she was led up from the court holding cells. Mudau appeared to be more tense, never lowering her mask and avoiding eye contact with the media.

Ndlovu in 2021 received six life sentences for killing five of her relatives and her lover, for all of whom she had taken out funeral or life insurance policies. 

She was nabbed after the hitmen she had hired to kill her sister, and her sister's five children, tipped off police officers about the plot.

Among these men was Kunene.

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