KZN hitman sentenced to life for three murders; five more on his record

2026-03-24 - 12:01

A 31-year-old contract killer has been handed a life sentence and two concurrent 15-year terms by the KwaZulu-Natal High Court, bringing his total murder convictions to eight. Siphamandla Gumede appeared before Justice Mossop at the Mtunzini circuit court on 20 March, displaying no remorse and revealing almost nothing about himself. After roughly a month of hearing evidence, the judge said he could not claim to truly know the man before him. “One person can never really know another person if the other person does not permit himself to be known,” Justice Robin Mossop remarked, adding that Gumede had “disclosed the bare minimum information about himself”. A contract killer with 8 murders to his name Gumede was convicted on three counts of murder – Edwin Zungu, Simo Luthuli, and Bongani Mhlongo – as well as one count of common assault against Siphamandla Ngema. These convictions come on top of five previous murder convictions handed down on 11 August 2025, along with convictions for attempted murder and two counts of robbery. The court found there was no apparent connection between Gumede and any of his victims, which pointed strongly toward him being a hired killer. “There was no apparent link between you and any of the men that I found that you had killed,” Mossop told Gumede. “You claimed to not even know Mr Simo Luthuli, yet you killed him.” The judge acknowledged the possibility that Gumede might be a serial killer who derived pleasure from killing, but concluded it was more probable that he killed on instruction. Gumede, through his counsel DC Mkhwanazi, denied being a contract killer throughout the proceedings. ALSO READ: Trio sentenced to life in jail for murder and robbery in KZN A pattern of lies and indifference in court The denial did little to help his case. Mossop found Gumede’s default position was dishonesty. “Anyone who heard the evidence led at your trial would know that your default position is to lie,” the judge said, listing specific falsehoods Gumede told about the shootings of Luthuli and Mhlongo. His conduct during the trial compounded this impression. Gumede sat in the dock largely disengaged, appearing uninterested in proceedings that would determine the rest of his life. When the court asked his counsel to obtain details about his eight previous convictions, Gumede instructed Mkhwanazi to tell the court to use its own powers to find out. He further claimed he was not guilty of any of those previous offences. “Not only is there no remorse expressed in this matter, [but] you are also unrepentant about your prior conduct,” Mossop noted. He cited the Constitutional Court’s definition of remorse from S v Matyityi: “Remorse is a gnawing pain of conscience for the plight of another. Thus, genuine contrition can only come from an appreciation and acknowledgement of the extent of one’s error.” Families left without breadwinners Victim impact statements painted a devastating picture of what Gumede’s actions had left behind. Bongani Mhlongo was the father of eleven children. His widow asked why he had to die – a question the court said only Gumede could truly answer. Edwin Zungu’s son, Justin, gave a statement that stood out for its dignity amid grief. “I never thought that my father’s killer would be found. We are grateful to all who worked on his case, we have peace in our hearts. We feel safe. Our lives will heal. His life was taken. God will one day restore us,” Zungu said. The court expressed genuine hope for these families. “I sincerely hope that his expectations are realised, and I hope that the other families who lost loved members will heal, will be restored and will also be able to find some form of closure in these proceedings,” Mossop said. Sentences and why a lesser term was refused Mkhwanazi submitted that Gumede’s never having known his father, who died when Gumede was six months old, constituted substantial and compelling circumstances justifying a departure from the prescribed minimum sentences. The prosecution, led by T Ntsele, countered that many people grow up without fathers and do not become murderers. Mossop J agreed, finding the single mitigating factor insufficient. On counts 1 and 2 – the murders of Zungu and Luthuli – Gumede received 15 years each, the prescribed minimum for a first offender under section 51(2) of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, as these offences preceded his other murders chronologically. On count 4, the premeditated murder of Mhlongo, he received life imprisonment. The 15-year terms and the assault fine run concurrently with the life sentence, which itself runs concurrently with the life sentence already being served. Gumede was also declared unfit to possess a firearm. “You only get one life, and you have wasted yours,” Mossop told him. “But the true tragedy is that you have also wasted the lives of the three people that you murdered.” READ NEXT: Sexual assault scandal rocks Randburg Magistrate’s Court