KZN boy murderer to be sentenced
The 23-year-old man, who was found guilty of kidnapping and murdering a four-year-old boy by the in the Pongola Regional Court, will be sentenced Friday.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokeswoman Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said that 25-year-old Sibongiseni Magugula was convicted of two counts of kidnapping, one count of attempted murder and one count of murder.
In July last year, Magagula kidnapped four-year-old Lungisani Ntuli and then murdered and dismembered him, leaving the child’s body parts in the property of the St. Jones church in the Ncotshane area close to the Swaziland border in northern KwaZulu-Natal. More body parts were found at the house of a woman in the area.
At the time, residents went on the rampage and burned down the woman’s home, torched a rondavel in the church grounds and vandalised the church. Police arrested 15 people in connection with the protests.
Shortly after the gruesome find, Pastor John Fanyana Nkosi, 52, was arrested. But he was never charged and was then released. A few days later, he was found locked in the boot of his car in the town of Louwsburg, about 80 kilometres away from Ncotshane.
Ramkisson-Kara said that one of the kidnapping charges and the attempted murder charge related to the kidnapping of another five-year-old boy in June last year. But the boy was saved when another man discovered Magagula in the sugar cane fields with the five-year-old.
She said that sentencing was expected to take place on Friday.
KwaZulu-Natal Provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Mmamonnye Ngobeni praised police for “collecting all necessary evidence that led to the conviction of the accused.”
“The members worked hard under extreme conditions, being criticised by the community of not finding the killer of the boy,” Ngobeni said. “We always appeal to the community to leave the police to do their work without being disturbed.”
Police earlier on Thursday issued a statement that said the convicted man’s name was Nhlanhla Magugula