The man who shot dead Cape Town community activist Loyiso Nkohla-Mabandla has been jailed for 30 years. Zukisa Tshabile, 41, was sentenced by the Western Cape Division of the High Court in Cape Town on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, after entering a plea and sentence agreement with the state.

Tshabile pleaded guilty to 15 charges. The court convicted him of murder, seven counts of attempted murder, kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances, two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and two counts of unlawful possession of ammunition. The sentences imposed totalled 149 years in prison, but the court ordered them to run concurrently with the 30-year murder sentence, leaving an effective term of 30 years behind bars. He was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.

A killing that shocked Philippi

Nkohla-Mabandla was gunned down on 17 April 2023 while opening a community meeting at Philippi train station in Cape Town. He had called the meeting to discuss unpaid security staff and the way forward for residents being moved from shacks built on the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) Central line. Four armed men arrived at the meeting, opened fire as he tried to escape among community members, and he died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds.

According to the plea agreement, the killing followed a dispute over security contracts at Philippi station. Businessman Thobani Maxengana was said to have approached the gunmen, claiming he felt unsafe entering Philippi because of a dispute involving Nkohla-Mabandla and his wife, Nyameka Mabandla. Maxengana allegedly told them he wanted the couple killed and offered each attacker R20,000. Nkohla-Mabandla had persuaded his wife not to attend the meeting, a decision that saved her life.

Nkohla-Mabandla became a well-known figure in Cape Town around 2013, when he and fellow activist Andile Lili led protests over poor sanitation in informal settlements. The demonstrations, in which human waste was dumped at prominent public places including Cape Town International Airport, drew national attention. He served as an ANC councillor before moving between several political formations, including the Democratic Alliance, the Land Party and the Patriotic Alliance. At the time of his death he was working as a community activist, helping Philippi residents engage with PRASA.

Other crimes in the plea deal

The plea agreement also covered an armed robbery at the Pizza Pub in Kraaifontein on 5 July 2023, in which R15,000 in cash, alcohol and two mobile phones were stolen. During the robbery, police officers and a security guard were shot at. Sergeant Robert Hugo was struck in the stomach but survived because his bulletproof vest stopped the bullet, while bystander Graham Mitchell suffered a gunshot wound to the head.

Senior State Advocate John Reyneveld told the court the murder was carefully planned and motivated by a commercial dispute. He said the attack had also placed other community members at substantial risk because it happened during a public gathering. National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the authority remained committed to prosecuting those who used violence to settle disputes or advance criminal and financial interests.

Two other accused in the case, Mdlungu and Chulayo, are expected to appear at the Wynberg Circuit Court on Wednesday, 11 November. For Nkohla-Mabandla’s family and the Philippi community, the sentence marks an important step towards accountability for the killing of a man whose activism once brought national attention to the struggles of poor communities.