'I think it was greed that led her to all of this': sister of alleged insurance killer

Yet another alleged insurance killer stood in the dock on Thursday — the third in three weeks — this time in the Durban high court.

Nonhlanhla Cynthia Mbele, 41, from Umlazi is charged with killing her sister Suzan Xolo, brother-in-law Thamsanqa Mthembu and family friend Thulani Cele. She is also charged with conspiring to kill her helper Nonkuleko Hadebe, a family friend Nosipho Mdlalose, and Sthembile Hadebe. Her accomplice, Cyril Msipho, also from Umlazi, faces the same charges.

According to the indictment, Mbele obtained funeral cover plans for R50,000 for various family members and friends through Capitec Bank between June and September 2019. She persuaded her son, Nzuzo Xolo, 24, to do the same so he too could be a beneficiary.

According to the policy, Capitec undertook to pay double the cover in the event of an accident or unnatural death.

Mbele was questioned in court by prosecutor Nadira Moosa on Thursday about her withdrawals and spending sprees at home décor and hardware stores, which coincided with the deaths of Xolo, Mthembu and Cele.

Moosa said she was convinced the withdrawals were to be used to pay for hitmen. Mbele denied this.

Xolo was gunned down by unknown assailants on July 15 2019 while on her way to her work in uMlazi township. Later the same month, Mbele transferred money to Msipho.

Moosa asked Mbele how the three were killed shortly after the insurance policies were taken out on their lives.

“I would be lying if I said I knew. These tragedies also left me under a lot of stress,” said Mbele.

Speaking to TimesLIVE Premium after the court session, Mbele’s sister Philile Xolo said the arrest had caused tension in the family.

“It’s really been tough because people in our community are talking and to them it feels like we were also guilty, but we were not in the know,” she said.

Though the family was aware Mbele was not employed, they were reluctant to quiz her on her source of income, she said.

“We just felt it was none of our business. That is why we were sceptical,” she said.

Xolo said Mbele's husband, who was an eThekwini municipality employee, was assassinated at their uMlazi home and his killers were never brought to book.

She said the deaths had dealt a heavy blow to the family.

“It’s a double tragedy for us because we lost a sister and a brother-in-law... It is also a daily struggle to try to close the void left by the two. My sibling’s children, who we are now forced to look after, are a painful reminder of the tragedy,” said Xolo.

She said Mbele’s apparent lack of remorse and the evidence which had emerged in court had left them unsettled.

“We are asking ourselves what could have led to this because Nonhlanhla was someone who was a loving person. How can she inflict so much pain on us? I am inclined to think it was greed which led her to all of this,” said Xolo.

The case has been adjourned to July 25 for closing arguments.

Two weeks ago, a case against alleged insurance killer Segomotsi Agnes Setshwantsho was moved to the North West High Court in Mahikeng for a pretrial hearing on July 22.

Setshwantsho is accused of poisoning her niece to cash in on an insurance policy worth more than R3m.

She has been charged with murder, two counts of fraud, and one count of defeating the ends of justice. She was arrested in November 2023 following an intelligence operation after suspicions were raised by family members.

Last week Gauteng nurse Sithembile Xulu, 48, who allegedly orchestrated the murder of her domestic worker, 21-year-old Busiswa Nxumalo, was arrested. It has emerged Xulu planned to cash in almost R7m in life insurance and funeral cover policies. The police investigation revealed that she had already pocketed R700,000.

Within hours of Nxumalo’s body being found, Xulu had cashed out three funeral cover policies which she'd taken out to insure her. 

Nxumalo's body was found in January 2022 at a dump site not far from Xulu’s previous home in Lenasia South. She had been stabbed to death.

Xulu and her alleged accomplice, her gardener Simon Mogale, 37, appeared in the Lenasia magistrate’s court facing charges of fraud and murder.