The Gqeberha businesswoman accused of masterminding the murder of her ex-husband, Dr Bantu Noqekwa, in an apparently financially motivated crime, was denied bail in the New Brighton Magistrate’s Court this week.
HeraldLIVE reports that Ethel Mphahlwa-Noqekwa, 46, is accused of hiring a group of hitmen to murder the father of her three children. The 56-year-old GP was gunned down at his surgery in Zwide on 3 May.
In his verdict, magistrate Mphuthumi Mpofu said Noqekwa’s death was tantamount to an earthquake as it “shook the pillars of the province as a whole”.
Mphahlwa-Noqekwa's co-accused Siyabulela Gcayiya and Andile Jongi previously abandoned their bids for bail.
Another suspect has since turned state-witness while two new accused were arrested last week, one of whom appeared in court on Monday.
Mphahlwa-Noqekwa will join all the other accused in the dock on 17 August.
The murder of the popular doctor was apparently financially motivated, though his ex-wife later claimed to police “anyone” could have done it because he was notorious for sleeping with his patients’ wives.
Their eldest son, Khanyisa Noqekwa (22) has since told police his mother had plotted to kill his father, Dr Bantu Noqekwa, months before the hit on 3 May, after which she left the city to live in his flat in Cape Town, where she was arrested last month.
While Noqekwa was shot at point blank range by four gunmen at his practice in Zwide, Mphahlwa-Noqekwa, who is also a business owner, was at a casino, reports TimesLIVE.
However, when they first questioned her about the murder, she said it could have been “anyone” because Noqekwa was allegedly an adulterer, the court heard.
“The applicant said she was willing to assist us … that she had heard the doctor was sleeping with patients’ wives,” said investigating officer Sergeant Sibulelo Yali. He also testified that the son of the victim was aware his mother was involved in the hit on his father, and that she had asked her son for money to pay the hitmen.
According to Yali’s testimony, Noqekwa allegedly told her son her ex-husband had a hit out on her and wanted her dead, reports News24.
She apparently then said it would be better if his father died, rather than her, Yali testified.
Cellphone records placed Mphahlwa-Noqekwa and the gunmen within about 700m of the crime scene.
Yali said just hours after the doctor was shot, Mphahlwa-Noqekwa allegedly met the hitmen and travelled to a filling station to withdraw R1 000 from her bank account.
She withdrew an additional R5 000 that same evening but told the hitmen full payment would not be available immediately.
The court heard previously the alleged murder plot was hatched after a night of gambling and drinking two years ago.
“There was financial motivation behind the crime,” Yali said.
In opposing bail, the prosecution said Mphahlwa-Noqekwa was a flight risk, shown through her actions when she “fled” to Cape Town, taking her youngest son (14) with her.
Yali said she had left for Cape Town after being interviewed by police three times, without telling them she was leaving or where she was going.
HeraldLIVE article – Ex-wife of slain Bay doctor denied bail (Open access)
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Ex-wife of murdered Eastern Cape GP in court for his murder
Eastern Cape doctor shot and killed
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