Courts & Legal
Court hears sharply conflicting versions in Ntuzuma Hawks shootout trial
In the Durban High Court this week, a single detail became a central point of tension: what exactly was Siyanda Harrison Mhlongo wearing when bullets started flying in Ntuzuma?
The answer could shape how the court interprets a case that has drawn significant attention within KwaZulu-Natal’s policing community.
A deadly afternoon in Ntuzuma
The case stems from a fatal shootout on 18 August 2024. Mhlongo, a police constable, was arrested after an exchange of gunfire with members of the Hawks in Ntuzuma, north of Durban.
He now stands trial alongside Khayelihle Mthethwa and Mzwandile Mazibuko. The charges are severe: robbery with aggravating circumstances, three counts of attempted murder, and two counts of murder.
The two officers who lost their lives during the shootout were Muziwakhe Shezi and Lwazi Knowledge Mkhize. Their deaths remain central to the case now before the court.
Intelligence, a safe house, and sudden gunfire
Lieutenant Colonel Deendayalan Govender, who commands the Hawks’ provincial Tracking Team and the Violent and Serious Crimes Unit, testified that he had received intelligence about a heavily armed gang. The group had allegedly robbed Royal Wholesales in Richmond, making off with R30,000 in cash, three cellphones, CCTV equipment, cigarettes, airtime vouchers, a pistol, a rifle with ammunition, and BET vouchers.
The information suggested the suspects were heading to a safe house in Ntuzuma.
When Govender and his team arrived, he recognised the property as belonging to a man known as Zungu, described in court as an accused in a cash-in-transit heist matter.
What startled him, he told the court, was the sight of two uniformed police officers at the house. According to his testimony, as the Hawks prepared to exit their vehicle, the armed group, including the officers in uniform, opened fire.
He described a chaotic and rapid exchange. He told the court he could not simply drive away, believing that doing so would have led to more shots and possibly his own death.
The question of uniform
Govender maintained that Mhlongo was in full SAPS uniform and described him as lighter in complexion and slender.
Under cross-examination, Mhlongo’s lawyer, Zamani Ncama, challenged that description. Ncama argued that his client is not naturally light-skinned and had only become lighter during incarceration. Govender stood firm, saying that compared to the others present, Mhlongo appeared lighter.
The defence presented a sharply different version of events.
Ncama told the court that Mhlongo will testify that he was not in uniform at all. Instead, he claims he was wearing a red T-shirt, jeans, and takkies.
According to this account, Mhlongo had lent his car to a man identified as Mbhele. When Mbhele phoned to say the vehicle had broken down, Mhlongo was allegedly directed to Zungu’s house to collect it. Once there, he could not reverse and leave because another vehicle blocked him in.
The defence says that at that moment, the Hawks arrived and immediately began shooting. Mhlongo’s instructions, Ncama said, are that he raised his hands to surrender but was shot at, prompting him to run. He allegedly jumped a fence into a neighbour’s yard, and his service firearm fell in Zungu’s yard.
Govender disputes this version, including the location of the firearm. He told the court it was found further away from the fence, next to a suspect who had been fatally shot.
A case under scrutiny
Beyond the legal arguments, the case raises difficult questions about trust within law enforcement and the dangers of high-risk operations. Allegations that a serving officer may have been involved in criminal activity are serious, while claims of mistaken identity and immediate gunfire present an equally stark counter-narrative.
In a province where cash-in-transit robberies and armed gang activity have long dominated headlines, the line between crime-fighting and criminality remains under close public attention.
The trial is set to continue next week, with the court expected to hear further testimony as it pieces together what really happened that day in Ntuzuma.
For now, the courtroom remains divided between two starkly different stories: one of betrayal in uniform and the other of a man in a red T-shirt caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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Source: IOL
Featured Image: University of Central Florida
