A hitman and three officials of the Alfred Duma Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal have been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of the municipality’s civil engineer.
Oscar Hlatshwayo was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Ladysmith in 2019. Hlatshwayo was at the time of his murder an Executive Director in the Engineering and Infrastructure Services Department of the municipality.
The case was investigated by the Political Killings Task Team, leading to the arrest of the four.
Their sentence was handed down at the Madadeni High Court on Wednesday.
#sapsHQ The #SAPS Political Killings Task Team has secured yet another conviction. This time, on the murder case of the late Oscar Hlatshwayo who was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Ladysmith in 2019.
Hlatshwayo was at the time of his murder, an Executive Director in the… pic.twitter.com/aZE7TPjfoq
— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) August 6, 2025
National Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe says that four of the perpetrators, including one female, have been sentenced to life sentences.
“Nomaswazi Shabalala, who was a senior engineer at the Alfred Duma Local municipality, is believed to have ordered the hit. The second accused, Mondli Mabaso, is a businessman linked to tenders at the municipality. The third accused, Mduduzi Njuza’s role was to coordinate and organise the firearms used in the commission of the crime, and the fourth accused, Brown Ngcobo, was the shooter, also known as the hitman.
“The National Commissioner of the SAPS, General Fannie Masemola has welcomed the life imprisonment sentence for each accused and says he hopes the convictions will provide the necessary closure to the family of the murdered Civil Engineer,” Mathe adds.
[LIFE SENTENCES EACH FOR MURDERERS OF ALFRED DUMA LOCAL MUNICIPALITY CIVIL ENGINEER]
The SAPS Political Killings Task Team has secured yet another conviction. This time, on the murder case of the late Oscar Hlatshwayo who was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Ladysmith in 2019.… pic.twitter.com/WkCUa8Trje
— Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (@CrimeWatch_RSA) August 6, 2025
