Mother unaware of hit on her life

THE alleged insurance claims killer and former policewoman Rosemary Nomia Ndlovu took out insurance and other policies on her relatives and boyfriend, before she allegedly killed them.

Maria Mushwana, 80, Ndlovu’s mother, testified in her defence at the high court proceedings at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court yesterday, where Ndlovu stands accused of murdering her family members for insurance payouts.

The frail Mushwana seemed indifferent when she was questioned, however tensions arose when she started contradicting her daughter, whom she was meant to defend.

Ndlovu had earlier testified that she was one of the last people to see her nephew, Brilliant Mashigo, alive in 2018 in Bushbuckridge. However, Mushwana contradicted this, saying that her daughter was nowhere near Bushbuckridge when Brilliant died.

“No, they did not travel together ... but he did come to my house on a Sunday. When Brilliant died, he died in Bushbuckridge,” Mushwana said.

Mushwana also told the court that she had not asked her daughter about Brilliant’s death, because the only time Ndlovu was at Bushbuckridge was the day before Brilliant was buried.

It came out in court proceedings that Ndlovu had cashed in by more than R400 000 for her sister Audrey’s death. The court also heard about fraudulent activities that the accused had allegedly engaged in relating to pretending to be her sister, in order to cash in the policies. She denied impersonating her sister at any stage.

The mother of the two sisters was also asked if she knew Ndlovu had ordered a hit on her, and had paid a hit man to execute the hit. Mushwana denied knowledge of this, and said she did not feel threatened.

The court gave Mushwana some time to spend with her daughter after her testimony.

The court heard Ndlovu had several policies for different people and in some instances there were multiple policies for one individual.

The case continues today.