By Nikita Chiniah
Life sentence for women who plotted Chatsworth man’s murder
The family of slain Westcliff cook, Mohamed Salajee (81) finally received justice at the Umlazi Regional Court two years after he was found dead in the boot of his vehicle.
His daughter, Sabira Bibi Salajee who described her father as a ‘kind and generous’ man, said that although she and her sister miss their father, they could not come to terms with the gruesome way in which he was killed.
She said: “We are happy that we have finally received justice for my dad. Our community and family are glad that we could finally receive closure.’’
‘’My father loved farming. What was supposed to be a time of fun and new beginnings with his family in his new farm in Pinetown turned out to be disastrous when his body was found in the boot of his vehicle. We realised that the set-up was done with the pretence of luring my dad into buying a farm and thereafter robbing and killing him. He was tied with his own shoe laces.”
The Umlazi Regional Court found the cook’s employee, Lungile Qoza and Ntombikayise Khambule guilty of the murder and sentenced the pair to life behind bars. The hitman died after the incident.
Salajee was driven to his death in the Engoyameni area outside Umlazi on Durban’s southern flank.
Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, the National Prosecuting Authority’s spokeswoman for KwaZulu-Natal provided an insight into the horrific murder: “On the day of the incident, Mohamed Salajee left his home with R150 000 and he intended to pay for a property he planned to purchase. Lungile Qoza knew about this and she colluded with Ntombikayise Khambule and a hitman to rob him of the money.’’
‘’The trio robbed him of the money and put him into the trunk of his car. They tied his feet and hands tight with shoelaces. They drove to Umlazi where the vehicle stalled on a gravel road. The hitman then shot Salajee twice in the face before they all fled on foot.’’
After three months, police arrested Khambule after finding the cook’s identity document in her in possession. Qoza was subsequently arrested. A month after shooting Salajee, the hitman died.
In the court, prosecutor Chantal Bisumber used evidence from an identity parade to place the women at the scene of the crime, and handed in a Victim Impact Statement compiled by Salajee’s daughter and facilitated by the Court Preparation Officer, Thuli Sontsele.
The accused were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and received 15 years imprisonment for robbery and five years for kidnapping. They will serve an effective term of life imprisonment.
Ramkisson-Kara added: “The NPA acknowledges the successful finalisation of this matter. We commend the work done by the prosecution and investigation team. We hope this sentence will have the necessary deterrent effect.”
Apart from spending most of his life as a cook at Badsha Mazaar, a religious place of worship in Durban Central, Salajee enjoyed farming and was planning to take his family to the farming land he purchased.
Speaking to the Chatsworth Tabloid, Sabira Bibi Salajee, said: “We are still in shock after realising that the people who my father cared for the most, his own staff members had actually set him up. My dad was a good man. He did a lot of charity work, including serving haleem (a type of meat and dhall stew) to the poor regularly. He was a tailor as well.”
The elderly father of two daughters, six grandchildren and nine great grandchildren, would have turned 83 this year.
