Rosemary Ndlovu, a Tembisa police officer once entrusted with the duty to protect and serve, learned of her fate when the verdict was delivered on her serial murder case.
Rosemary Ndlovu verdict announced
On Friday, after weeks of testimony from police involved in the undercover operation that unsealed the horrific crimes she committed against five of her family members and a live-in partner, including expert analyses and witness accounts from those who knew her and the victims, Judge Ramarumo Monama found Ndlovu guilty of incitement of a murder, the attempted murder of her mother, fraud, defeating the ends of justice, conspiracy to commit murder, as well as six counts of murder.
This time around, Ndlovu, who’d garnered an audience from her eccentric in-court antics, was a shadow of her jovial self. During trial, the former police officer posed for pictures, flirted with photographers and even made a trend out of the different hairstyles she flaunted at every appearance.
On the day of her judgment, however, Ndlovu quietly sat on the dock, wearing a look of immense worry. Perhaps, this was the moment of realisation that the fun and games were over and for the rest of her life, she’d wallow over her gluttonous pursuit of money within the confines of a prison cell.
Throughout the trial, Ndlovu had vehemently denied responsibility of the deaths of her relatives, chalking every mysterious death that coincidentally occurred after encounters with her, as unfortunate events that had nothing to do with her.
“She knew exactly where that body was to be found. She knew exactly where that body was discovered and for that reason, she was within 15 minutes on the scene, and only a person involved would have been there so quickly, and exactly at the same spot,” the state argued during closing arguments.
She even had an excuse for the footage taken from the undercover operation led by her colleagues in 2018, where she was heard providing clear instructions on how pull off the perfect murder against her sister, to people she believed were hitmen.
According to Ndlovu, she was coached into making it appear as if she was giving instructions to the ‘hired killers’
How many years will she get?
“If you look at the clip carefully, there is nowhere where I initiate a discussion or conversation…I did not initiate the conversation,” she cried.
However, these assertions were not enough to convince the court. Effectively, the serial killer is expected to spend the rest of her natural life in prison.
Ndlovu was accused of orchestrating the violent murders of her boyfriend Maurice Mabasa and relatives Witness Madala Homu, Audrey Ndlovu, Zanele Motha, Brilliant Mashego and Mayeni Mashego for financial gain. A financial paper trail collected by a number of insurance companies showed how she pocketed more than R1.4 million from insurance payouts as a result of the deaths.
Sentencing will be take place at a date yet to be confirmed.