The Western Cape Division sitting in Knysna has sentenced four men to lengthy prison terms for their roles in the premeditated murder of a severely mentally disabled young woman, allegedly driven by the lure of funeral policy money, Cape town Etc reports.
The sophisticated plot was orchestrated by 36-year-old Mboneleli Msila, who, along with hitmen Mbulelo Jack, Monde Tshemese and Lungisile Lucas, executed a brutal assassination motivated by greed.
Msila and his wife adopted the victim, Nosipho Mafana, at the age of 11. The murderous scheme began to unfold in April 2021 when Mafana, under his directive, took out a R100 000 funeral policy with Standard Bank, which would pay out R200 000 in the event of an unnatural death. The beneficiary under this policy was none other than Msila himself.
In February 2022, the plot thickened as another R1 000 000 funeral policy was taken out with First National Bank FNB, naming Msilas sister-in-law, Nosiphiwo Koti Thomas, as the beneficiary. Not satisfied, Msila participated in amending a Capitec Bank policy to double the payout in case of accidental death, also making himself the beneficiary through his wife.
As the conspiracy progressed, Msila employed deceitful tactics to acquire a weapon. He commanded his nephew to obtain a firearm under the pretence of needing to protect his livestock and subsequently sought out his neighbour, offering R40 000 to kill Mafana. Fortunately, the proposed hitman declined the offer and refrained from alerting the authorities.