Life sentences for men convicted of ambushing and ruthlessly murdering Cape Town officers

The Western Cape High Court has handed down two life sentences and an additional 60 years of direct imprisonment to four men convicted of the brutal, premeditated murders of two City of Cape Town law enforcement officers.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila confirmed that Ndumiso Lutshetu, Ashwin Kennedy, Bongani Mvamveki, and Malibongwe Witbooi were found guilty of the cold-blooded killings of Jan Nieuwenhuys and Simthembile Nyangiwe, and have now been sentenced for the violent crime.

The two officers were gunned down in broad daylight on 4 September 2019 while on duty, guarding a construction site at Sweet Home Farms in Samora Machel. They were ambushed while sitting in a marked patrol vehicle, having just returned from their lunch break.

The court also convicted the accused on two counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, illegal possession of firearms, and illegal possession of ammunition. In addition to the life sentences for the murders, each was sentenced to 15 years’ direct imprisonment for each count of robbery, and a further 15 years each for the weapons charges. Judge Daniel Thulare ordered these sentences to run concurrently with the life sentences. All four were declared unfit to possess firearms.

The sentencing followed a meticulous investigation and a prosecution led by Advocate Carl Gertse of the NPA's Organised Crime Component. The case hinged on compelling circumstantial evidence, including forensic analysis, post-mortem reports, and police testimony.

The court heard that the slain officers had been protecting workers from Usher Construction at a site often targeted by criminal gangs. According to the evidence, the attackers struck with ruthless efficiency. Their colleagues, stationed in another vehicle across the site, rushed over after hearing gunfire to discover the officers’ bullet-riddled bodies.

A coordinated manhunt was immediately launched.

Acting on a vital tip-off from an informant, Warrant Officer Nguma, a Commander of the Crime Prevention Unit at the Samora Machel Police Station led a joint task force of 10 police officers and 18 soldiers to Ramaphosa Informal Settlement. Within two hours of the attack, all four suspects were arrested. The informer had accompanied the task team to identify the specific shack the accused were hiding in—essential in an area with no formal addresses.

Despite pleading not guilty and attempting to dismiss the case through a Section 174 application under the Criminal Procedure Act, the State successfully opposed the move, and the trial proceeded. During closing arguments, Gertse emphasised the execution-style nature of the killings and the sheer volume of cartridges recovered at the scene. He argued that the primary motive was to obtain the officers’ firearms and that had the accused not been swiftly apprehended, further crimes may have followed.

Judge Thulare, in his judgment, condemned the act as a targeted effort to intimidate the City of Cape Town. He stated that the attackers sent a chilling message: “Even with your deployment of law enforcement officers, you can’t stop us, for we will kill and rob your guards in broad daylight.” He recognised the killings as part of a broader crime intending to intimidate the municipality into submission to the gangs’ dictates.

“This was a direct attack on the State and its authority,” said Adv. Nicolette Bell, Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions. “An attack on law enforcement is an attack on government itself. It cannot be overemphasised how important it is to ensure that those who commit such crimes receive the maximum sentences our courts can hand down. The NPA will be vigorous in its pursuit of perpetrators of such crimes to ensure their sentences serve as a deterrent."

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Weekend Argus