The SAPS officers who shot and killed the flashy “gangsterpreneur” Nkululeko Mkhize when they raided his rental home in the affluent Zimbali Estate, were there to arrest him on a three-year-old murder charge.
Police initially said the afternoon raid, two weeks ago, was in connection with a drug-related turf war shooting that took place earlier in the week in Richards Bay, in which five people died.
However, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) confirmed that Mkhize was shot when police went to the luxury Ballito estate to execute a warrant of arrest for his involvement in a 2020 shooting at Mkhize’s tow-truck business premises.
The NPA said the 2020 murder case against Mkhize had been provisionally withdrawn and sent back to police for further investigation.
“The office of the director of public prosecutions in KwaZulu-Natal decided to arraign Mr Mkhize in the high court on charges of murder. A warrant of arrest was authorised and the accused was shot when the police attempted to execute the warrant,” the NPA said.
One of them was Mkhize. He then shot the victim in his upper leg. I don’t know if it was his last power or adrenaline, but the victim somehow made it up and jumped on a car, then on the roof and from there over the fence.
— Police source
Mkhize’s alleged partner in crime, former police officer Sabelo Cele, was also killed in the shoot-out.
Mkhize, who owned a tow-truck company, is believed to have been a key underground figure involved in tender kickbacks.
He is suspected to be a kingpin in the syndicates who have plundered Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) in recent years, and is believed to have ordered several murders related to this.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Col Robert Netshiunda confirmed the arrest warrant.
“It [the raid] was about the intelligence on the murders of five people in Richards Bay. But investigations have revealed that he was linked to a number of murders. The matter is still under investigation with our team following several leads, so we do not want to furnish you with information which might hamper or jeopardise ongoing investigations.”
He confirmed the 2020 murder two weeks ago.
“Police responded to reports of a shooting at a towing business premises at Ceramic Curve in Alton on March 10 2020. Upon arrival the lifeless body of Vusumuzi Msimango, who was 28 at the time, was found with a gunshot wound. Nkululeko Simangaliso Mkhize was also found at the scene and arrested,” Netshiunda said.
Sources close to the investigation said that after the shooting, Mkhize had made a statement to police. “According to Mkhize’s statement, the man guarding his Leko Towing workshop premises phoned him in March 2020 and told him there were people stealing from him.”
Mkhize went to the premises and found a place where a slab had been removed from a piece of prefabricated wall.
“This was where the intruder — or intruders if you believe Mkhize — had gained entry,” the source said. “Mkhize claimed that when he arrived, there were three men — one with a firearm, one with a bush knife and one with a small knife.
“He said he fired a warning shot and the man with the bush knife and the one with the firearm jumped over the razor-wire fence and ran away. The opening in the prefabricated wall was behind Mkhize and the man with the small blade ran towards him. Mkhize said he shot him in self-defence,” the source said.
However, a statement from the security company disputed this version of events.
“According to the guard, he was sitting in a car when he heard a gunshot and then there was somebody dead. He did not say much more, but it was enough of a difference to keep investigators scratching.
“If we look at the pictures of the victim in the docket, he is totally naked.”
Nothing seemed to fit self-defence.
“The postmortem report also told another story. A fractured skull and many other injuries were noted, the sort of injuries when somebody is badly beaten up. Then there was the gunshot wound in the upper leg where the bullet hit the main artery. The fractured skull and the gunshot wound were listed as the official causes of death.”
Investigators later discovered CCTV footage.
“In the footage we see the guard — who was not armed — arresting the suspect after a struggle. While they are wrestling you can see the guard grab him by the jacket and the suspect worm out of his jacket. In the crime scene pictures you can see the blade was found next to that jacket on the ground,” the source said.
“Suddenly three men appear. They grab this suspect and start beating him up badly. At one point they stop and pull the man from the ground. They move on both sides of him and start walking away while he is sort stumbling along. They keep walking until they are out of the camera field.
“The guard was shot dead just after the investigators started fiddling with the case for the second time. The other two men were killed in shootings that were allegedly linked to the taxi industry,” the source said.
At one point two more men arrived. “One of them was Mkhize. He then shot the victim in his upper leg. I don’t know if it was his last power or adrenaline, but the victim somehow made it up and jumped on a car, then on the roof and from there over the fence.”
The shooting is not visible in the footage. “You see Mkhize and the other man arriving, then less than a minute later everybody is running for cars to get out of the property. That was when the victim escaped.”
The man’s body was found on the pavement.
Mkhize called the police.
“When police took it to court it was not enrolled, and the docket was sent back for further investigation. The matter ended there until police looking into a spate of murders surrounding Richards Bay Minerals started scratching again.”
Investigators rebuilt the docket and that was when the footage came to light.
“The footage, together with further statements were strong enough to go back to court.”
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