The new true crime anthology, “Imibuzo”, premiered on Showmax on Monday, May 8. The first episode focused on the murder of Nkululeko “Flabba” Habedi, the rapper best known as a member of legendary local hip hop group Skwatta Kamp.
“She’s beautiful. She’s really beautiful, she's too beautiful for the crime she committed,” says Tshepang Habedi, Flabba’s brother, when speaking on Sindisiwe Manqele during the first episode.
“I didn't expect it. I didn’t see her as that type of a woman.”
Manqele was released on parole last year after serving eight years of her 12-year sentence for stabbing Flabba to death. Manqele grabbed headlines after she murdered Flabba at his home in Alexandra in the early hours of March 9, 2015.
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Flabba's cousin Mpho Motsoari, who was also present on that fateful night, says he also didn’t see it coming.
“They were happy together and she was a good person, I won’t lie. I thought they’d get married as the years went by because they were deeply in love.”
Habedi and Motsoari were both in the room with Flabba after he was stabbed.
“I last saw Nkuli (Flabba) alive like minutes, minutes, minutes before he passed away,” said Motsoari.
“I heard Sindisiwe screaming. I didn’t think I heard right at the time because it was at night and it was quiet.
“I went into the house running and I found her at the door and Nkuli was lying down. What surprised me was that Nkuli had no clothes on; he had taken off his jeans and shirt.
“He was only in his underwear, in a pool of blood. Sindi then put the knife down while she was crying hysterically.
“I asked her what really happened, then she told me where she stabbed him. She said it was a mistake. She was already crying. She was crying even before we arrived and realised that he was no more.
“And when the ambulance arrived she was still crying hysterically. When she tried to hurt herself with a bottle, the police were already there; they handcuffed her after she tried to cut herself,” Habedi said.
According to a press statement from Showmax, “Imibuzo”, will seek to answer lingering questions about some of South Africa’s biggest news stories from the last decade, with new episodes dropping every Monday until July 10.
Subsequent episodes include the Enyobeni tavern massacre, the murders of Karabo Mokoena, Tshegofatso Pule and Lindokuhle Cele, and the case against televangelist Tim Omotoso.