The arrest of a fugitive “prominent gang member” accused of a murderous crime spree spanning several years is cold comfort to Nombuso Mbilini.
Mbilini has spent the past year seeking justice for her son Mzingisi, who was among 13 people gunned down in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, by suspected extortionists.
Taxi boss Yanga Nyalara, 30, appeared in court on Monday charged with the 27-year-old’s murder. He abandoned his bail application and the case was postponed to August 18.
But Mbilini fears he may get off the hook — as he appeared to have done previously.
Nyalara spent months on the run before his arrest at a house in Cape Town on July 1 while “sleeping between two young, beautiful women” with a stash of drugs, according to police minister Bheki Cele.
He faces 18 murder charges and 13 other charges, including attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm, ammunition and drugs. The charge sheet alleges he is a “prominent member of a criminal gang which engages in a range of criminal activities, not limited to extortion of informal businesses, in among other areas, Khayelitsha, and commits violent criminal acts aimed at inspiring fear in the owners of these informal businesses”. Police said his crimes date back to 2016.
Mzingisi was killed while buying airtime at a shop close to home in Site B, Khayelitsha, on May 5 2021. He left behind twin babies. Two Somali shop owners were also shot.
“I am struggling to support his children. I am unemployed,” said Mbilini. “It is heartbreaking. He may be arrested but henchmen are still roaming the streets. There are shootings all the time in this community. On Sunday, there were people walking up and down the streets brandishing guns. We live that dreadful life.”
She believes her son was the victim of a gang turf war.
I am struggling to support his children. I am unemployed. It is heartbreaking
— Nombuso Mbilini
Depending on who you speak to in the community, Nyalara is regarded as a businessman, a selfless philanthropist and self-styled investigator helping local victims of crime. Others believe he is a heartless monster.
Mbilini’s fears may not be far-fetched. A voice note circulating in the community threatened dire consequences after a march to the local police station by residents complaining about crime and extortion. A voice in the clip accuses residents of being “full of s**t … I have been going around strangling other people’s children because of housebreakings and land issues, and all that k*k,” says a man.
“You march and talk about gender-based violence in your memorandum, of which there is nothing wrong. The next thing you poke your nose into our things. Things about people who are busy with the Somalis. You write a memorandum to the police and talk about that. I risk my life every day … I am doing this for you and the next thing you, the community, go on to sign a memorandum and hand it over at the police station. They are interfering with the things we are doing … It’s OK, you will see what will happen. I am not sending the criminals but I am telling them that I have nothing to do with [resolving] house breakings and robberies. They can do as they please. Even at my place where you reported cases, you will find a paper on the wall telling you that we no longer take cases and people must go to the police station in Site B.”
Provincial police spokesperson Col Andrè Traut said detectives were investigating the voice note.
The Sunday Times called a cellphone number linked to Nyalara. It was answered by a person claiming to be his sister. “He studied to be a teacher. He wanted to be a teacher. He went for his teaching practice at [a] high school teaching commercial subjects,” she said.
Nyalara went on to become a taxi owner and recently applied for long-distance operating licences between Cape Town and the Eastern Cape. “He became a taxi owner because he has an entrepreneurial mindset,” said the woman.
She said he was adored by the community, which had held a protest as police offered a reward of R100,000 for his arrest.
“The community protested that the police must not catch him because they feel safe around him. He is a huge help to the community. He provided the community with food during the hard times of Covid,” she said.
The Sunday Times has established that Nyalara was arrested in 2012 in Kraaifontein, Cape Town, for the alleged possession of a firearm without a licence. In 2013, he was arrested in Mowbray for possession of suspected stolen goods. The next year he was arrested in Nyanga for possession of a firearm without a licence. In 2018 he was arrested in the Eastern Cape for reckless or negligent driving. All of these cases were later withdrawn. He also has a pending assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm case, from 2019, in Khayelitsha.
“More charges are likely to be added as the investigation continues,” said provincial National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila.
