Domestic worker gunned down outside court 'was seeking justice'

Sicelubuhle Moyo, who was shot dead with her partner outside the Randburg magistrate's court on Wednesday was a very special human being who was fighting for justice.

This is according to her former employer who started getting to know her in 2017. The former employer from Midrand, who didn't want to be named for fear of being exposed and putting his family at risk, said Moyo was introduced to his family by their neighbour when they moved to the area. 

He said at the time they were looking for a domestic worker and she initially worked once a week with them as a general worker but ended up spending most of her time with their children rather than being simply a domestic worker.

“She was an unbelievably lovely lady, unbelievably strong, unbelievably character-filled. It was an absolute pleasure to have her in our house and we trusted her implicitly with our children,” he said.

He said though she didn't work for a long time for them, he got to know her over the years and she was a very special human being.

He said the torture incident put her through hell.

It was alleged that a robbery had taken place at a home where Moyo was working as a domestic worker. She was accused of having being involved in the robbery plot and was arrested.

“When the incident, which is on record, occurred in 2018, she went through — there is no other way to describe it — absolute hell. She was accused falsely of being part of the robbery as an inside job which anyone who knows her would have attested to be completely wrong.

“Even if we assume the police just made an honest mistake, what transpired next was just ridiculously beyond atrocious. She, as the record will state, was imprisoned and put in jail and then she was taken to an undisclosed location and tortured. Why I am mentioning this, [is because this is] part of why the court case exists,” he said. 

He added that Moyo was tortured to the point where most people would have died but she went through the ordeal and came back to being her usual self within a short time. He said she was probably one of the strongest people he had ever met, both physically and emotionally. 

He said most people would have let go of the fight by just being happy that they had escaped death but Moyo wanted justice for her three young boys, who are in primary school and now without parents. 

He added that he believed she was fighting for justice so that her boys could live in a better world. 

“The reason I am speaking to you guys ... as much as I don't want to be exposed and have my family at risk , is that if she was willing to do that and stand up for justice I guess we should all tell the story and should get out there and the people who are responsible should be held accountable,” he said. 

Moyo and her partner Wilfred Dube were shot dead outside the Randburg magistrate's court on their way to testify against four police officers charged with assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm [to her] in the October 2018 incident. 

Dominique Ngwila, a gardener at the property where the robbery occurred, said he had lived at the property for more than six years. He remembered the incident but was working at another property when it occurred. 

He said the owner of the property, whom he knows as an engineer, usually travels and works overseas. At the time of the robbery, he was in the US. Ngwila added that there were tenants renting a house on the property. On the day of the robbery, they had gone to Johannesburg. 

“I remember the incident. Apparently there were four robbers who stormed the house in the morning and stole a safe and jewellery. After the robbery,  [Moyo] was a suspect because she called for help only around 1pm, whereas the robbery happened in the morning,” he said.

The policemen, whom the court ordered should not be named and who are now part of the investigation into the murders, allegedly tortured Moyo after they arrested her in connection with the robbery.

A case was opened with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate. According to the charge sheet, the accused contravened the Prevention of Combating and Torture of Persons Act. 

“On or about 24 October 2018 and at or near Alexandra ... the accused ... intentionally committed an act of torture by inflicting severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, on Sicelubuhle Moyo, by tying her onto a table by her ankles, waist and hands, covering her face with a cloth and forcing water into her mouth and nose,” it read. 

“The accused allegedly tortured her for the purpose of obtaining information or a confession from her and/or punishing her for an act she was suspected of committing and/or intimidated or coerced her to do or to refrain from doing anything, to wit, instructing her to tell them the truth about a house robbery incident and disclose the identities of the other perpetrators.

The court on Wednesday ordered that the police officers, while not linked to the double murder, hand in their cellphones, work and private firearms, and be subjected to gunpowder residue tests. 

This was after the state made an urgent application in terms of section 36 of the Criminal Procedure Act to secure the necessary evidence to help the police with the preliminary investigations into the double murder. 

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