Four guilty of murdering Payne's Farm deputy head

UMTATA -- Four men were found guilty by Judge Neilan Locke in the high court here yesterday of murdering a teacher at Payne's Farm.

Vuyisa Ngcukuva, 23, Mandla Vanqa, 40, Churchill Spambo, 31, both teachers, and Zamekile Fatana, 32, murdered Zandisile Nongoma, deputy principal at Payne's Farm school.

Nongoma and other teachers were ambushed on their way to bank R7499 in school funds on January 18, 2000.

Nongoma was shot dead and the attackers stole the money.

The court heard Spambo taught at the same school as Nongoma.

Evidence was that Spambo told his co-accused that about R40000 was likely to be collected at the school that day.

Fatana supplied Ngcukuva with a firearm and Vanqa never got close to the crime scene because he had told his co-accused that he was known by other teachers.

Locke found that Ngcukuva shot and killed Nongoma while Fatana was harassing other staff members in the car.

Vanqa was waiting at a distance in another car.

Judge Locke said he was satisfied that each accused had a role to play in the execution of the robbery but was not clear whether the question of killing Nongoma was agreed upon.

The court found Ngcukuva and Fatana were the executioners, Vanqa and Spambo were instigators in the crime. -- DDR