The four brothers among those arrested for the murder of rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes come from a notorious and powerful family in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Residents of Ocilwane — a rural community on the outskirts of Richards Bay — this week told the Sunday Times the brothers were feared as having “no sympathy and taking no prisoners”.
“Iziqwaga (bullies)! Those guys don’t play around. We know enough not to mess with them or even their pet dog. Trust me, you don’t want to be on their wrong side,” said a community member.
Siblings Siyabonga “Nxele” Ndimande, 28, and Malusi “Mjay” Ndimande, 28, were arrested in Eswatini last Saturday and are in custody pending their extradition. Their brothers, Lindani Ndimande, 35, and Lindokuhle Ndimande, 29, joined co-accused Siyanda Myeza, 21, Mziwethemba Gwabeni, 36, and Lindokuhle Mkhwanazi, 30, in the dock in the Durban magistrate’s court on Thursday.
While the National Prosecuting Authority has portrayed the suspects as career criminals, they made several basic errors that helped police track them down. According to court documents:
- Lindokuhle Ndimande opened a bank account on the same day AKA was killed — and swiped his new card at Wish restaurant in Florida Road while the rapper was nearby having a haircut. After the haircut, AKA went to the restaurant to meet his friend, celebrity chef Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane. They were both shot dead on the pavement as they left the restaurant, effectively placing Lindokuhle at the scene of the crime.
- The getaway car used by AKA’s killers was involved in a hit-and-run accident a month after the murders. According to the court documents, the wife of a taxi owner was ambushed en route to Durban. Coming under fire, she drove off, chased by men in a white Mercedes. Her passenger was shot dead. A pedestrian who was hit by the gunmen’s car recorded the number plate and reported it to police. The vehicle was later found abandoned in Cato Crest informal settlement. It had false registration plates and had been stolen in January 2023. Police linked the theft to Siphamandla Ngcobo, who had purchased airtime from a shop a few metres from where the vehicle was abandoned. He was arrested at a shopping centre in Cape Town in March last year with three other men. From there, police used cellphone records which placed several accused in Florida Road on the day of the murder, and a day later in Cato Crest. Ngcobo has not been charged with AKA’s murder.
- In April, police arrested Myeza in Bhekithemba, Umlazi, for unlawful possession of a Norinco pistol with serial numbers filed off. Ballistics linked the gun to two spent cartridges recovered near AKA’s body.
An extradition application sent by KwaZulu-Natal director of public prosecutions Elaine Harrison to the Manzini magistrate’s court describes a web linking guns, bank accounts, cellphone records, tracking reports and witness statements that she says implicate the Ndimande family and the suspects in hits on rival taxi bosses.
We know enough not to mess with them or even their pet dog. Trust me, you don’t want to be on their wrong side
— Ocilwane community member
These include William Kunene, who was killed in the parking lot of Seadoone Mall in Amanzimtoti in November 2022. As he was returning a trolley, a gunman walked up to him and shot him in the head with a revolver. A second man shot him as he lay on the ground, in full view of his son.
Siyabonga is alleged to have paid the gunmen R1,500 each.
Siyabonga, Lindani, Malusi and Mkhwanazi are taxi bosses with fleets operating in Durban, Empangeni and Mtubatuba. Lindani is a “businessman” involved in farming in the Camperdown area near Pietermaritzburg.
Based in Pinetown, Gwabeni has several companies under his name which are involved in property development and construction. According to a confidential police report seen by the Sunday Times, he was charged with pointing a firearm in 2021. It is not clear if the case is still pending.
Bank statements show that Gwabeni received an R800,000 deposit on the day of AKA’s murder, which is believed to be payment for the hit. He disbursed R133,000 into Lindokuhle’s newly opened account.
Myeza, from Umlazi, is unemployed.
The Sunday Times this week visited Ocilwane, where a family member said the Ndimande brothers grew up together and went to the same schools.
He said Malusi loved playing soccer with his friends. After dropping out of the University of Zululand, he had moved to Durban a few years ago to “further his studies” but soon joined his brothers in “their businesses”.
“It’s been over a year since I last saw or even spoke to Mjay [Malusi] and his brothers. I didn’t know what they were doing in Durban and it was never my business. I was shocked last year when the police came and said they were looking for them. We told them that it’s been months since we saw or spoke to them.
“They searched the houses and didn’t find anything,” said the relative, adding that the police had told them to alert detectives should they come in contact with the brothers to “avoid a sour ending”.
The family said they were shocked when police told them the brothers were prime suspects in the murder of a musician. They said they learnt about the arrest through the media reports earlier this week and had no idea how Siyabonga and Malusi got to Eswatini.
“At least they will have an opportunity to answer for themselves,” the relative said.
Another family member said that for years the siblings had been on the wrong side of the law around Mtubatuba and Durban. “Many of the family members, including brothers and fathers, died in the taxi war in 2022, leaving about eight Ndimande siblings dead.”
A woman who dated Siyabonga in Durban for several months described him as “sweet and calm”, but with a “dark side”.
She said there were times where he had been shot but refused to go to hospital.
Many of the family members, including brothers and fathers, died in the taxi war in 2022, leaving about eight Ndimande siblings dead
— Family member
“In his room, there would be a lot of money stashed in buckets. He never had time, he was always busy and seldom available on the phone, or called from a different number,” she said.
Malusi and Siyabonga are due to appear again in the Manzini magistrate’s court on Tuesday.
In court on Thursday, police minister Bheki Cele said the extradition process was being handled by justice minister Ronald Lamola.
While AKA’s father Tony Forbes praised the police he said he believed the mastermind who paid the R800,000 into Gwabeni’s account had yet to be identified.
“I don’t think that the police meant that the true mastermind has been arrested. I think they were referring to the co-ordinator who we know was the one who pays the other guys after he receives a sum of money.
“It’s my first sight of the accused and they look like ordinary people who have committed something horrible for money. That’s a reflection of our society. It’s a difficult moment for all of us as a family.”
The five suspects are back in court on Wednesday for a bail application.
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