Court postpones sentencing for Sindiso Magaqa's killer
Murder of Sindiso Magaqa: Sibusiso Ncengwa pleads guilty and is sentenced.
Image: File
The sentencing of Sibusiso Ncengwa for the 2017 murder of former ANC Youth League Secretary-General Sindiso Magaqa has been postponed to July 7.
Ncengwa pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including murder, attempted murder, malicious injury to property, and unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.
His conviction was secured after the Pietermaritzburg High Court accepted his formal admissions.
"His mother has not received counselling since 2017...She always cries when she sees her son on television due to the trauma," said Lwazi Magaqa in the victim's impact statement.
According to evidence presented in court, Magaqa was ambushed on July 13, 2017, outside a tuck shop in Umzimkhulu, KwaZulu-Natal.
He and two councillors were shot multiple times while sitting in a vehicle. Magaqa survived the initial attack but later died in hospital from complications related to his injuries.
In his signed confession, Ncengwa admitted that he and his accomplices planned the attack in advance.
"We followed the vehicle and waited for an opportunity. When we saw them sitting there, I got out with the rifle," Ncengwa said. He added: "I fired shots at the car to make sure we hit him."
Ncengwa further revealed that after the shooting, they set fire to another vehicle to destroy evidence.
"We poured petrol and lit it. I knew this was to cover our tracks," he said in his plea.
He also conceded that he was in unlawful possession of the firearms used in the attack. "I did not have a licence for the weapons," Ncengwa told the court.
Magaqa, who was regarded as a rising star in the ANC Youth League and had served as its Secretary-General, was widely mourned by colleagues and supporters.
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