Zukisa Tshabile has been jailed for an effective 30 years for murdering Cape Town community activist Loyiso Nkohla-Mabandla, the Western Cape Division of the High Court ruled on Tuesday, 10 November. The 41-year-old pleaded guilty to 15 charges under a plea and sentencing agreement with the state, more than three years after Nkohla-Mabandla was gunned down in front of community members in Philippi.

The court convicted Tshabile 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' direct imprisonment, but the court ordered them to run concurrently with the 30-year sentence for murder, resulting in an effective 30 years behind bars. Tshabile was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.

Shot while mediating a housing dispute

Nkohla-Mabandla, a political activist and former politician, was shot dead on 17 April 2023 while mediating the relocation of people who had built shacks on the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa's Central line in Cape Town. He rose to prominence as a community activist with the Ses'Khona People's Movement, campaigning for sanitation rights in Khayelitsha. His wife, Nyameka Mabandla, said she was shocked to learn there had also been a price on her head.

The National Prosecuting Authority welcomed the sentence. Its Western Cape spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, said the authority remained committed to prosecuting those who used violence to settle disputes or advance criminal and financial interests. The court heard that Tshabile admitted being offered R20,000 to take part in the killing, and reports say a dispute over a railway security contract was allegedly behind the murder.

Two co-accused still to appear

Two other accused in the matter, Mdlungu and Chulayo, are expected to appear separately at the Wynberg Circuit Court on Wednesday, 11 November. Their cases continue while Tshabile begins his sentence. Read the full report of the sentencing in African Times News, and the SABC News account carried by 7788news.