Now having been convicted of 13 murders, Thulani Themba Nhlumayo this week began serving the sentence handed to him in the Scottburgh High Court for the 2018 murders of five people.
DURBAN – While on the stand, multiple murder convict Thulani Themba Nhlumayo was asked by the State whether he took responsibility for the five murders he had been convicted of and his response was that he would never do that.
“I will never take responsibility because I did not do them,” said Nhlumayo, who in 1998 was sentenced to eight life sentences for murder.
Now, having been convicted of 13 murders in total, Nhlumayo on Friday began serving the sentence handed down to him on Thursday by the Scottburgh High Court for the 2018 murders of Zane Phehlokwayo, Njabulo Handsom Ndovela, Siphosakhe Sima and Andile Professor Khowa during a robbery at Mama’s Tavern in Margate. He also killed Siyabonga Dindikazi in another robbery at Khowa’s Tavern in Port Shepstone.
Two people were injured during these shootings.
On Thursday, Judge Kate Pillay handed Nhlumayo five life sentences for the murders and 10 years for each of the attempted murders.
Nhlumayo was handed eight life sentences for the 1998 murder of eight people on Christmas Day.
He had been out on a presidential pardon when he committed the 2018 murders. It is believed he had served 15 years before being released.
Addressing the court before his sentence this week, Nhlumayo’s defence attorney Phakamisani Mbambo implored the court to consider his client’s personal circumstances, that he had two minor children and his “tragic history”.
“He left school after standard 5, his father died a violent death … ”
He explained that Nhlumayo’s father was killed in a politically-motivated murder in 1989 at a time when there was conflict between the ANC and IFP, adding that Nhlumayo placed specific emphasis on the incident in 2017 where he was attacked and shot.
“He appears to me like a person who never stood a chance and because of that the victims never stood a chance.”
Nhlamayo had told the court that the 1998 killings had been revenge on the ANC for the murder of an IFP leader.
State advocate Mziwodumo Miza described these killings as “premeditated”, adding that the 1998 murders showed the court the kind of person it was sentencing.
“After 15 years he was released, given a second chance to integrate and be a better human being but he didn’t seize the opportunity with both hands …
“You are dealing with a person who says, ‘I did not commit these offences’. He is not a candidate for rehabilitation, that starts with remorse. He is not going to change, that is the message he is sending.”
Miza said that this was a case where a non-parole period should be fixed when a sentence was handed down.
“How many more opportunities must he be given to go out and kill more people before a non-parole period was fixed,” he said.
During the trial, video footage from Mama’s Tavern was played in court.
“We can see from the video footage that they did what they set out to do, there was no resistance from the victims. It would appear he was shooting them for fun, he is a heartless man who should be sent to jail for a long time,” concluded Miza.
Judge Pillay ordered that Nhlumayo serve 25 years of his sentence before he could be considered for parole.
