Asanda Baninzi

Case record: Asanda Baninzi

Background

Asanda Baninzi was 21 years old and from Guguletu. He described himself as ashamed when he admitted killing 14 people in a hijacking spree.

Baninzi was already serving four life sentences and a further 67 years in connection with the murder of a Delft family in August 2001.

His co-accused, Mthuthezeli Eric Nombewu, also known as "Wox", committed suicide about a month after their 2001 rampage.

In court, Baninzi said he had trouble sleeping because of all the murders he committed.

Investigating officer Jonathan Morris testified that Baninzi said he had trouble sleeping because of all the murders he committed.

The offence

Baninzi admitted that he killed 14 people between June and August 2001 during a hijacking spree that involved multiple kidnappings, robberies, indecent assault, attempted murder charges, and rapes. He also acknowledged that he unlawfully and intentionally committed murders and other crimes.

Banzi described that during May and August 2001 he became “friendly with a group of bad people”, including Zolani Dosi, also known as “Zakes”; Garrol Bosman; Nturu; and Wox. He said they smoked Mandrax “daily and as often as we could”.

Banzi said the group did not work and needed money to live and to buy Mandrax and other drugs. He said:

“Neither Wox nor I worked and we needed money to live and to buy Mandrax and other drugs. To get money we decided to hijack cars so that we could kidnap the occupants and rob them of their money and personal effects and so that we could strip the cars and sell the parts.”

Banzi said he knew that Wox and the others would shoot and kill the people. He also said he actively participated in hijacking, kidnapping, robberies and rapes because he wanted to buy Mandrax tablets, and he acknowledged that he committed murders and other crimes unlawfully and intentionally. He told the court:

“I actively participated in the hijacking, kidnapping, robberies and rapes as I wanted to buy Mandrax tablets and I acknowledge that I unlawfully and intentionally committed murders and other crimes.”

He said he knew what he had done was unlawful and wrong and expressed remorse. He said:

“I am very ashamed of what I have done and deeply regret the pain and suffering that my actions have caused to the families and friends of the victims.”

Most of the victims were shot execution-style in the back of the head.

Banzi said he and Wox drove victims to different areas after hijackings and kidnappings, including the Zwelitsha area, Nyanga, and a Gugulethu shebeen.

Some victims were couples attacked while courting.

The judge said:

“Over a period of nine months Baninzi and his friend went on a murderous rampage. Not satisfied with their armed robberies they repeatedly raped female victims and then cold bloodedly killed them.”

The judge also said it was difficult to express the horror the victims must have felt and that the rapes and killings were not explained or excused by the desire for money for Mandrax.

Charges and pleas

Banzi pleaded guilty in a plea explanation handed to the Cape High Court.

The plea explanation included guilty pleas to the following:

• 14 charges of murder
• three of attempted murder
• 15 of kidnapping
• 12 of robbery with aggravating circumstances
• one of indecent assault
• four of rape
• one of housebreaking
• the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition

In court, Baninzi was surprised to hear him plead not guilty to a charge of rape, but prosecutor Jan Theron later indicated the state would not prosecute him on that charge.

Banzi admitted the first six charges related to an incident on June 20, 2001 when he and Wox hijacked a couple in their VW Microbus at their home in Gugulethu. The men indecently assaulted the woman; both men raped her; and they robbed her and her male friend.

Banzi admitted that three charges related to the murders of People’s Transport taxi driver Mogamat Brand and his last passenger, Ryan Masetu.

He said weeks later the body of Mqibalo Mninsi was found lying beside a road in Delft and that he had been shot in the head.

He said on July 22 he and Wox hijacked Richard Dantjies and Faith Qwelane at gunpoint. He said:

“We drove to the Zwelitsha area where we both raped the woman. I locked the man in the boot of the car.
“When we finished raping the woman we took the couple to an unused shack in Nyanga. Wox shot them both in the head. We took their money, a cellphone and their VW.”

He admitted he had hijacked Stanley Khumalo and Ntombhekya Matomana who were parked in Gugulethu on July 25. He said the couple were kidnapped, shot and left for dead.

Relatives and friends of the victims packed the public gallery and there was loud weeping while Baninzi’s statement was being read out.

Banzi described that on an August 8, 2001 hijacking, he and Wox drove Bokweni and Mbambisa to the Mawumawu area in Nyanga. He said:

“Wox then shot Bokweni as he lay face down on the road - with a terrified Mbambisa still in the car, he said.
The young woman was taken to Zwelitsha, where she was raped by both Baninzi and Nombewu. Afterwards she was fatally shot in the head.”

Banzi also described that after hijacking Bokweni and Mbambisa, he and Wox drove to a Gugulethu shebeen. He said Nombewu decided they would rob Mtiki, the alleged dealer, and they pretended to be police and shouted that she should open the door. He said they also pretended they wanted to buy Mandrax tablets. He said:

“When a woman opened the door, we pretended that we wanted to buy Mandrax tablets. When she said that she did not have any, we pointed our guns at her and robbed her of her money.
“Wox then shot her in the head, killing her.”

A survivor, Ntombhekya Matomana, was blinded by a gunshot to her head and died a year later.

Investigation and evidence

Jonathan Morris, the investigating officer, testified at trial and said Baninzi admitted committing the crimes.

Morris said the case was one of the “most gruesome” of his career. He said:

“I have handled many cases in my career, but this is one where one person was charged with so many crimes - and admitted to committing them,”
He also said the Delft family had been “wiped out” for informing the police of Baninzi’s whereabouts.

Arrest and custody

The proceedings described that Baninzi was tried in the Cape High Court.

Trial

Banzi said the word “guilty” 51 times.

Banzi pleaded guilty to a total set of offences that included murder, kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances, indecent assault, rape, housebreaking, and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

Banzi initially pleaded not guilty to a charge of rape involving Nolwandle Nkutshu, but it was later indicated the state would not prosecute him on that charge.

Banzi provided plea explanations read to the court by his advocate, Keith Hutton.

When asked by the judge why Baninzi had raped his victims if all he wanted was money, Keith Hutton said Baninzi had been on an “escalating treadmill”. Hutton said:

“When asked by the judge why Baninzi had raped his victims if all he wanted was money, Hutton said his client had been on an ‘escalating treadmill’.”

Sentencing

Banzi was sentenced to life imprisonment and additional imprisonment terms.

Banzi was handed a life term for each of the 14 murders he confessed to have committed during a spate of hijackings between June and August 2001, when he was 18.

He was also given life sentences for various rapes.

The court found Baninzi not guilty of the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, after it emerged that the gun used in the killings belonged to former gang boss Mthutuzeli Nombewu, alias "Wowo" or "Wox".

Banzi’s advocate, Keith Hutton, asked the court to recommend that Baninzi’s sentence be coupled with counselling.

Hutton said Baninzi was “just a lonely and frightened young man who got stuck on a path that was very difficult to get off.” Hutton also said:

“He is, in many ways, just a lonely and frightened young man who got stuck on a path that was very difficult to get off.”
“He made bad choices”.
“Essentially, (Baninzi) is a young man who threw his life away in the space of three months.”
“It would be easy for us to turn our back on him but we have been given a chance to show mercy by seeing what we can do to help him in prison.”

On May 5, 2004, the Cape High Court handed down 19 life sentences and further sentenced Baninzi to 189 years of imprisonment. He received 19 life sentences for 14 murders, four rapes of hijacking victims and two armed robberies, plus 189 years of imprisonment.

Judge Abe Motala presided.

Motala said he expressed the court’s deepest sympathy to the families and friends of Baninzi’s deceased victims and that he had difficulty understanding what had driven Baninzi to commit such crimes.

Appeals

No appeal information was stated in the material.

Outcome

Banzi was convicted of multiple charges and sentenced to life terms and imprisonment terms.

The court found him not guilty of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

Mthuthezeli Nombewu, Baninzi’s accomplice, committed suicide to escape arrest.

Aftermath

In 2006, it was reported that Asanda Baninzi would testify against Ntura Takani in the Cape High Court. Baninzi was described as serving 24 life sentences for a drug-fuelled orgy of violence on the Cape Flats.

Ntura Takani was charged with 10 counts relating to murder, hijacking and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

It was stated that during a two-month reign of terror in 2001, the Voks gang, led by Baninzi and Mthuthuzeli “Voks” Nombewu, killed at least 34 people and raped several women. It was also stated that Nombewu shot himself that year after police surrounded his shack.

The material stated that in 2004 Baninzi pleaded guilty to 53 charges, including 15 hijackings, 18 murders and two rapes.

Pumla Pienaar gave evidence relating to six hijackings and implicated Takani as one of the gang members who participated in them. Pienaar said she only became aware of Nombewu’s “bad ways” after she moved in with him. Pienaar said:

“He made sure I never left his side and, when he was not around, he would ask one of their guys to keep guard on me,”

Pienaar said Baninzi and Nombewu had a pattern during the day of smoking dagga mixed with Mandrax before going on hijacking sprees at night. She said:

“Whenever they smoked drugs, they'd sit on the floor and have their firearms at their sides,”

Pienaar said one night they had hijacked a Volkswagen Fox in NY 79, Gugulethu, and then left it in the street before hijacking a minibus taxi offloading passengers in NY 41. She said Nombewu ordered her to get out of the Volkswagen and meet him later at a friend’s place and that she had realised there were people in the boot.

Pienaar’s evidence included that when she asked Nombewu about the incidents and what had happened to the people in the boot, Nombewu said:

“He said I talked too much.”
“Whenever I asked anything relating to the crimes, he would tell me to shut up.”

Pienaar said Nombewu threatened to harm her family if she left him. She said:

“Where would I have gone if I had parted ways with him? I had four children, my mother and my siblings that I wanted to protect. He had also assaulted me before,”

Pienaar said she never thought he was a killer until he “cold-bloodedly” shot to death, at close range, a hijacking victim in his Ford Meteor. She also said evidence before court did not match her signed statement to police in respect of a Kombi firearm point; Advocate Sheriff Mohamed put it to her that in her statement she did not mention that Voks pointed a firearm towards the Kombi:

“In your statement, you don't mention that Voks pointed a firearm towards the Kombi,”

Victims

The material listed the victims as Moegamat Brand, Ryan Masetu, Mqibalo Mnisi, Nceba Faltein, Siseko Nxu, Richard Dantjies, Faith Qwelane, Ayanda Bokweni, Linda Mbabisa, Lent Ndzoto, Nolwandle Nkutshu, Vuyo Tati, Nomvuyo Mtiki and Sydney Molefe.

Other details

During sentencing, it was stated that Baninzi raped his victims and that each of the four rape victims had been gang raped by two people and that the first victim had been raped twice by both.

It was stated that Baninzi and fellow “Wox gang” member Shadrack Nontshongwana were sentenced to four terms of life imprisonment for the slayings of the Delft South family in August 2001. The Delft South family included Felicity Adams (39), her husband Marius (34), and their daughters Shauna (10) and Alexis (16). It was also stated that Baninzi was convicted of the murder of Felicity Adams, Marius, Shauna and Alexis in the High Court last December.

It was stated that the Delft South family angered the gang when a family member contacted police about their suspicious behaviour, and that only a few days before they were murdered the Adams family were held at gunpoint by the Wox gang. It was stated that Mrs Adams pleaded with them to take anything they wanted but spare her family’s lives, after which the gang returned and shot each family member in the back of the head.

It was stated that Baninzi and Shadrack Nontshongwana were sentenced to an additional 67 years for several charges of aggravated robbery, housebreaking and kidnapping.

It was stated that some accounts described Baninzi as not having pulled the trigger and blaming “bad people” for the execution-style killings.