Online Reporter
The two South African men who shot and killed businessman Ben Gumbi outside a Rustenburg coffee shop in August 2023 have been sentenced to life imprisonment.
The sentence was handed down by the North West high court sitting in Mogwase.
The national prosecuting authority (NPA) said while both, Sibongiseni Ngubane and Thabani Gwala had pleaded not guilty to but were convicted based on overwhelming evidence by the state.
Sivenathi Gunya, spokesperson for the NPA in North West, said they welcomed the life sentences. “The two men were convicted of murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm following the brutal killing of Gumbi, 50, in August 2023.”
According to Gunya, Gumbi and his wife stopped at a coffee shop, and when he went inside, his wife remained in the locked vehicle. While waiting for his order, he stepped outside to take a phone call. “Moments later, a car pulled up, and two men got out and opened fire on Gumbi, fatally wounding him before fleeing the scene,” said Gunya.
“The suspects later abandoned the getaway vehicle and switched to another car. Police investigations, aided by surveillance footage from the coffee shop and fingerprints found on the abandoned vehicle, led to the arrest of Ngubane and Gwala in September and December 2023, respectively.”
Gunya said that during sentencing, Adv Dibuseng Ntsala argued that violent crime had reached alarming levels in SA leaving many families in grief.
She told the court that Gumbi’s life was taken in an extremely brutal, violent, and callous manner – shot in cold blood and in full public view – and urged court to impose the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment for the murder.
“The court agreed with the prosecution and sentenced both men as follows: Life imprisonment for murder, and 15 years’ imprisonment each for possession of an unlicensed firearm. The sentences will run concurrently,” Gunya said.
Gumbi was murdered 18 days after he and his business partners had started their bid to evict residents who had illegally occupied their 354-hectare piece of land reserved to build a R3,2bn smart city near Sun City Resort.
Welcoming the outcome, Dr Rachel Makhari, director of public prosecutions in the North West, said the sentence serves as a strong deterrent to perpetrators of violent crime. —Sowetan
