Four Mancoba Seven Angels cult members jailed for cop killings

Four worshippers from the Mancoba Seven Angels Ministries, who killed five on-duty police officers in Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape in 2018, have been given hefty prison terms.

Andani Monco, Kwanele Ndlwana, Siphosomzi Tshefu and Phumzile Mhlatywa were sentenced on Wednesday in the Mthatha high court for five counts of murder, charges of attempted murder, possession of unlicensed of firearms and ammunition, robbery with aggravating circumstances, and housebreaking.

Ndlwana and Tshefu will each serve 40 years’ direct imprisonment. They were also found guilty of a robbery for robbing a Butterworth policeman and Cala policewoman of their service pistols which were later used in the murders of the Ngcobo police officers.

Monco was sentenced to an effective 35 years’ direct imprisonment and Mhlatywa to 25 years behind bars.

Another worshipper, Siphesihle Tatsi, was sentenced last July to an effective 18 years for his role in the attack on the police station.

The police officers killed by the men were W/O Zuko Mbini, 46, and constables Kuhle Mateta, 27, Nkosiphendule Pongco, 32, Sibongiseni Sandlana, 32 and Zuko Nelson Ntsheku, 38.

NPA regional spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said the court heard the men were members of a cult which operated from Nyanga village, near Ngcobo.

Before attacking the police station, they first went to Butterworth where they robbed a police officer who was directing traffic and forcefully took his firearm in November 2017. Two weeks later, in December 2017, the same group went to Cala where they took a gun from an off-duty police officer at gunpoint.

Before the Ngcobo attack, the group, including some members of the cult who were killed during a shoot-out with police during their arrest, observed the movements of Ngcobo police and planned how to attack them, Tyali said.

They assigned roles to each other.

“Mhlatywa’s role was to drive to Ngcobo and commit a traffic offence that would attract the attention of the police. When the police were attending to that, he would drive away and stop where his accomplices were hiding, armed with the firearms they had stolen earlier.

“As planned, on the fateful night, two on-duty police officers fell for the trap and were ambushed on the R61 road near Nyanga High School and killed.

“After killing the two officers, the group drove the police van to Ngcobo police station where they shot and killed two more police officers and a data typist. The assailants raided the safe and took more firearms and bulletproof vests.

“When another police van that was on patrol duty returned to the police station, the officers were shot at and also robbed of their firearms by the bandits.

“Upon hearing over the radio that the Ngcobo police station was under attack, police officers from the neighbouring Dalasile police station drove to Ngcobo town to investigate, and they also came under attack from the heavily armed group.”

The stolen police van was found dumped in a ditch around Khanya village the next day.

The assailants also tried to rob a Capitec bank but failed to break the safe.

The trial was only finalised this year as the four men who pleaded not guilty chose to conduct their own defence, stating it was against their religious beliefs to be represented by attorneys. “That decision delayed the trial as the presiding judge had to assist the accused men, who did not have a legal background,” Tyali said.

TimesLIVE