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The Johannesburg High Court has sentenced two Bheki Nxumalos to life in prison.
They share the same names, and their victims, who died in a volley of bullets near two Soweto hostels – shared the same surname.
Now two Bheki Nxumalos have been sentenced to life in prison.
On Thursday, the Johannesburg High Court sentenced Bheki Thamsanqa Nxumalo and Bheki Wilfred Nxumalo to two life terms each for unrelated matters.
On the court’s second floor, Bheki Thamsanqa Nxumalo was sentenced for killing Thokozani Dlamini, 33, and his three-year-old son Siyanda.
And on the fourth floor, Bheki Wilfred Nxumalo was sentenced to two life terms for killing Dumisani Dlamini and Raphael Mahlangu.
But that’s where the riddle of similarities ends – apart from the fact that both men fathered three children each, the youngest ones aged 14 months and 18 months.
Thamsanqa’s motive had been fuelled by a family feud that started between the Nxumalos and Dlaminis in KwaZulu-Natal, while greed was the driving force behind Wilfred’s shooting spree.
Along with Siphelele Goodenough Khanyile, Wilfred had been hired as a hitman, and on the afternoon of November 20, 2009 the pair carried out orders to snuff out the life of taxi owner Mzikayifani Dumisani Dlamini.
Mahlangu became a victim because he was sitting inside Dlamini’s taxi when the men fired a volley of bullets at Dlamini’s taxi.
On sentencing Wilfred and Khanyile yesterday, Judge Sharise Weiner said the murders had been premeditated, and were carried out “with callous brutality”.
Judge Weiner then sentenced Wilfred, a chef at Gold Reef City, and Khanyile to two life terms each and an additional 10 years in prison each for the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition. The sentences are to run concurrently.
About an hour later, Bheki Thamsanqa Nxumalo was slapped with two life terms for murder and seven years for unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition. Judge Lucy Mailula further imposed five years for robbery.
The robbery charge was for a firearm that Thamsanqa stole after gunning down Thokozani Dlamini and his child. – The Star
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Pair jailed for killing other namesakes