Durban — The family of a Pinetown man, who was killed by two hitmen hired by his wife, is preparing to go into a legal battle to gain access to the slain man’s daughter whom they last saw a month after her father’s murder.
On Tuesday, the little girl’s mother, Nomphumelelo Patricia Goncalves, as well as her uncle, Steven Nkosinathi Zungu, were sentenced to life for the killing by the Durban High Court.
“Now that this court process is over and we have justice, we will begin to fight for the child through the court. We had decided to wait for this court process to finish before embarking on the one involving the child who is the only link on this earth to my brother,” said Zodwa Langa, the older sister of slain Nkosi Timmy Langa.
Goncalves’ mother and sister cried in the public gallery after the nurse was handed her sentence. In tandem, the Langa family ululated with joy.
Langa was employed as an engineer at Transnet at the time of his murder in September 2020.
He was tied up in his home near Hampshire Place in Pinetown by Zungu and a second hitman James Mashudu “Ramaphosa” Mthimkhulu who gained access to the home through the kitchen door, left unlocked by Goncalves for them.
Zodwa said that since Langa’s murder the two families have had bad blood and were not on speaking terms.
“The last time there was ever any communication with the Goncalves family was when my mother was still alive in December. After Nkosi’s body was found, mom was trying to have Nkosi’s child visit for the December holiday but they refused.”
The family did not anticipate being given full custody of the child by the court.
“All we want is access to the child, for her to visit us. She is Nkosi’s only child.”
Zodwa said her brother’s provident fund payout had been frozen while the criminal case continued. This was at the family’s behest after Goncalves was charged.
“We did not want Nkosi’s things to fall into the wrong hands. Now that the murder case is over we will bring up how it should be dealt with when we are in court for the child. We also want to request a DNA test on the child.”
Zodwa said the family was grateful to senior State prosecutor Krishen Shah for securing a conviction and sentence as well as the investigating officer Sergeant Sugar Sosibo and his superiors for how the investigation was handled.
“We are happy with the sentence. We know it won’t bring Nkosi back but it has brought us closure, dried our tears, and healed our wounds,” said Zodwa.
In sentencing, Acting Judge Bonke Dumisa agreed with the State that the accused had the chance to abort Goncalves’ murder plot but did not.
“The accused could have abandoned this plan immediately after the first meeting where they were planning the price for Langa’s murder … before she deliberately misled Langa into the room without the panic button … before picking up the accused and taking them to the Wendy house on her property where the assailants lay in wait … and before she left the kitchen door unlocked.”
Instead, Goncalves continued to execute the plan for the “heinous” crime.
“She kept in touch with the hitmen as her husband was being transported to his death in Ozwathini.
“She even phoned both men in the very early hours to make sure her murder plot had been successfully carried out,” said Judge Dumisa.
He sentenced the siblings to a further 10 years each for Langa’s kidnapping.
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