Cape Town - The woman accused of hiring a hit man to kill her brother-in-law appeared in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court charged with the murder of police officer Sithembiso Mnatwana.
Babalwa Rulwa-Mnatwana, 49, was arrested earlier this month and is facing a charge of murder.
Directorate for Priority Crimes (Hawks) spokesperson Philani Nkwalaseni said: “The case was allocated to the national priority violent crimes team of the Hawks.
“The team’s probe revealed that Babalwa Rulwa-Mnatwana, married to the deceased’s brother, allegedly hired a hit man to kill the police official. The motive of the killing is the subject of the Hawks investigation,” he said.
The said the hit man was still at large and was yet to be arrested.
Nkwalasane said: “The police official, who was attached to Cape Town Central Police Station, was shot and killed on September 8, 2022 in front of his residence at Samora Machel.”
Rulwa-Mnatwana was apprehended on February 10, 2023 and appeared in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court the same day of her arrest.
IOL reported that the 39-year-old sergeant stationed at Cape Town Central returned home after a 12-hour night shift when he was attacked by armed criminals in front of his residence. He sustained several gunshot wounds and succumbed to his injuries at the crime scene.
Weekend Argus reported that police counted 22 cartridges at the scene. Mnatwana was shot 12 times in the body and once in the head.
At the time, Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen said: “It’s unacceptable that our SAPS officers are attacked and killed in this manner. These men and women in blue, who work under extremely difficult circumstances, make huge sacrifices to protect us.”
rafieka.williams@inl.co.za