Umlazi woman pleads guilty to kidnapping and killing five-year-old

A woman from Umlazi has admitted in Durban High Court that she kidnapped and killed a five-year-old boy in August 2025. The accused, Sibongile Happiness Ngwadla, 40, pleaded guilty to charges of murder, kidnapping and attempted extortion on Tuesday.

Who, what and why plea statement in court

In a plea statement read to the court, Ngwadla said she abducted Simphiwe Ntobeko Xaba on 22 August 2025 and took him to Ezimeleni informal settlement. She told the court she targeted the child because she blamed his mother, Ntombifikile Xaba, for introducing her to online gambling and leaving her with debts.

“I resented the deceased’s mother, who introduced me to gambling, for failing to assist me when I fell on hard times, and I sought to make her pay for it,”

Extortion attempt and escalation to murder

Ngwadla admitted she used a burner phone to send text messages to the boy’s mother, demanding a R60,000 eWallet payment for the child’s return. She said the money was intended to settle gambling debts.

When the extortion did not succeed because police and community members began searching for the missing child, Ngwadla said she decided to kill him to avoid detection and arrest.

“The police and the community were actively looking for the missing child, and his picture was being circulated on social media. I decided to kill the deceased to avoid detection and arrest.”

Sequence of the killing, deception and arrest

According to her plea, on 23 August Ngwadla took the child from a relative’s home in Ezimeleni to a secluded area in Isipingo and first attempted to strangle him. She said she stopped when he cried. She then took him to the Q Section of Umlazi and threw him into a river to ensure he drowned.

Ngwadla also told the court she sent a WhatsApp message to the relative, Sinenhlanhla Mbotho, falsely claiming she had returned the child to his mother and later heard that the mother had thrown the child into the river. Ngwadla was arrested on 27 August.

Courtroom reaction and victim impact

Ngwadla became emotional and cried as her Legal Aid attorney read the plea statement. After being convicted on her guilty plea, she elected to testify in mitigation of sentence and offered an apology.

“I apologise to the family that I have caused harm to. I am remorseful,”

She said she hoped the sentence would show the victim’s family she genuinely regretted her actions and expressed a wish to apologise to her five children. Ngwadla told the court she had been self-employed as a hairdresser on Broad Street, Durban, before her arrest.

Outside court, Ntombifikile Xaba rejected Ngwadla’s claim that she introduced her to gambling and said Ngwadla often borrowed her cellphone to gamble online. Xaba said she and Ngwadla had not been speaking for a long time before the abduction.

“I trust no one. I have become overprotective of my two boys. I no longer allow them to leave my sight. I don’t allow them to go out and play with other children because I fear they will not return,”

These words were read as part of a victim impact statement delivered in court.

Next steps

The matter was postponed to Thursday for sentencing proceedings.