Former police officer Rosemary Ndlovu has been sentenced to life imprisonment for masterminding the murder of her partner and five of her family members so that she could claim insurance payout from policies she had taken out on their behalf.
The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg sentenced Ndlovu on Friday afternoon, following a morning of arguments in mitigation and aggravation of sentence.
Judge Ramarumo Monama sentenced Ndlovu to life in prison for each of the six murder counts.
Ndlovu was sentenced to an additional five years for defeating the ends of justice and 10 years on each of the four counts of fraud.
She was also sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for each count of incitement to commit murder and 10 years for the attempted murder of her mother.
In October, Ndlovu was convicted of the murder of her cousin Madala Witness Homu, nephews Brilliant Mashego and Mayeni Mashaba, sister Audrey Ndlovu, niece Zanele Motha, and boyfriend Maurice Mabasa.
She was also found guilty of four counts of fraud, defeating the ends of justice and seven counts of incitement to commit murder, as well as the attempted murder of her mother, Maria Mushwana.
Ndlovu was arrested after the alleged assassins informed police about her plot to murder her relatives.
She received more than R1.4 million in insurance payouts after the deaths of five of her relatives and her boyfriend over a period of six years between 2012 and 2018.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the insurance policies were mostly for unnatural death and Ndlovu was beneficiary.
Ndlovu was arrested after a long drive from Johannesburg to Bushbuckridge where she pointed out her sister’s house to the hitmen.
She was secretly recorded during the trip, explaining how she wanted the murders carried out. She mentioned her motive saying she needed her sister dead as she had financial problems and needed funeral insurance payouts.
