Ex-bodyguard for KZN mayor appears in court for gruesome murder

The family of a man whose body was found dumped in a river after he was allegedly killed by a former bodyguard for a KwaZulu-Natal mayor demanded justice as they described the incident as “brutal and inhumane”.

The lifeless body of Nkosinathi Radebe, 22, from Dambuza, Pietermaritzburg, was found on Friday night after he was last seen on Wednesday. 

The former bodyguard of Msunduzi mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla was arrested on Saturday night for murder. 

The suspect, Mzwemali Vincent Ngubane, 42, made his first appearance at the Pietermaritzburg magistrate’s court on Tuesday. 

Ngubane is charged with murder. His matter was adjourned to May 11 for a formal bail application. 

It is alleged that Ngubane was arrested after he had gone to the police station to report a hijacking.

After he was questioned by police, Ngubane eventually confessed to reporting a false hijacking and pointed out where he dumped the body. 

Msunduzi municipality clarified that Ngubane’s tenure as the mayor’s bodyguard ended months ago when he secured a permanent position in another department.

Radebe’s family said they were pleased with the arrest but were still in the dark about the motive behind his gruesome murder. 

Speaking on behalf of the family, Sanele Msomi said Radebe had gone with his friends to watch soccer at a nearby tavern.

He said they heard gunshots just after 10.30pm but did not know what was going on. 

“We were worried when he didn’t come back, especially after one of his friends came and ask if he was around. We went the next morning and we only saw a pool of blood, stains and empty cartridges,” Msomi said.

“His friends told us that on their way back, he [Radebe] was left behind, and after a while a vehicle came and opened fire. They ran and didn’t know what happened to him. They said there was no argument. The vehicle passed by and came back and picked up his body. No-one saw him run away and we tried to look for him.

“On Friday, we got a call to come to the police station and we were taken to the scene where his body was dumped. He was dumped near Edendale Mall at a river stream. We are waiting for the postmortem to confirm how many times he was shot.”

Msomi said the family was distraught, especially because they were expecting a lot of good things from him. 

He said Radebe was not a troublesome person. 

Msomi said they were disappointed at Ngubane’s action, especially because they knew him, and if there was an issue between him and Radebe, he should have approached the family. 

He said they were pleased with the arrest and hoped the court proceedings reveal the motive behind the murder. 

“He was murdered in a very gruesome manner. The fact that he was dumped in the river was just inhuman. Had he not gone to the police station for a false case, we would have been still looking with no clues. The only thing that will bring us complete closure is knowing what happened and why.”

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