GEORGE NEWS - Ndabezitha Ngxangane, the driver of the getaway vehicle after the murder of taxi owner Prince Mmola in Thembalethu in 2019, was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment in the Thembalethu Circuit High Court today, Thursday 28 July. Ngxangane was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
Mmola was shot at about 09:00 on Saturday 27 July 2019 while he was sitting in his bakkie in Liwani Street, Zone 8.
On arrival at the crime scene, police members found Mmola still seated behind the steering wheel of his Isuzu bakkie. He had sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his head and was already deceased.
On the day of the shooting, the then Eden Cluster Commander in George, Maj-Gen Oswald Reddy, assigned a multi-disciplinary team from the Eden Cluster to assist Thembalethu detectives in probing the murder.
“Initial investigation revealed that the victim was accosted by an unknown suspect while seated in his bakkie in the street," said Southern Cape police spokesperson, Capt Malcolm Pojie.
"Witness reports at the time suggested that the suspect, who was armed with a handgun, fired multiple shots through the windscreen of the bakkie. He ran away while been pursued by bystanders. He then got into a getaway car which sped off. ”
The investigation was handed over to an investigating officer from the provincial detectives’ taxi violence task team shortly after initial investigation into the motive and circumstances commenced.
An intensive investigation led to Ngxangane's arrest on 14 April 2020 in Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape. He has been in custody since and was found guilty in the Thembalethu High Court for his role in the murder on 14 June this year.
"During his judgement, Erasmus had nothing but praise for the tenacity of the investigation team. The meticulous manner in which they conducted the investigation deserved to be noted, he said. He also commended the court orderly for the professional and human conduct displayed towards both the accused as well as the family of the deceased,” said Pojie.
Prince Mmola was shot and killed in broad daylight and in full view of witnesses in 2019.
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