Guardian Kills Mentally Challenged Woman He Cared for Since Age 11 in Insurance Scam

• A Western Cape man has been sentenced to life in prison for orchestrating the murder of a mentally challenged woman whom he raised from childhood
• Mboneleli Msila took out multiple life insurance policies on 23-year-old Nomdundu Mafani before arranging her killing
• Three accomplices helped execute Mafani, shooting her in cold blood while she was sleeping at home

A 57-year-old man was sentenced to life imprisonment for orchestrating the murder of a 23-year-old woman. Nomdundu Mafani from Kwanokuthula in Plettenberg Bay in the Western Cape was brutally killed by three hired men.

What happened to the woman?

The 23-year-old Nomdundu Mafani, who had been in the care of Mboneleli Msila since the age of 11, was brutally killed on 30 April 2022. It was later revealed that Msila, the guardian of Mafani, hired three men to murder the 23-year-old mentally challenged woman. The woman was shot 15 times while sleeping.

It is alleged that Msila had taken out multiple insurance policies worth R600,000 on Mafani. He initially requested a neighbour to carry out the murder and promised to pay R40,000. The neighbour refused, so he hired Mbulelo Jack, Monde Tshemese and Lungisile Lucas to help him carry out the scheme.

Jailed for life

On Thursday, 19 June 2025, the high court in Knysna handed down life sentences to Msila and his co-conspirator Monde Tshemese, 35, for murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Mbulelo Jack, 25, and Lungisile Lucas, 41, were each sentenced to 17 years in prison.

The court heard how Msila recruited the men to carry out the murder, exploiting Mafani’s trust and vulnerability. The insurance policies had been taken out with several financial institutions, including FNB, Standard Bank and Cpitec, shortly before her death.

What you need to know about insurance fraud murders

• The SAPS has arrested a 49-year-old woman suspected of killing family members for insurance payouts. Investigation revealed a pattern of insurance fraud as the suspect allegedly orchestrated multiple relatives' deaths.
• A nurse is accused of killing her 21-year-old domestic worker to claim a combined R6 million insurance payout. Law enforcement officials arrested the 48-year-old woman at her home in Vosloorus, in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng.
• The woman accused of murdering her relatives to benefit from insurance claims has a fresh accusation against her. She was accused of killing her child after she made an insurance claim following her child's death.
• The murder case against Limpopo police Sergeant Rachel Shokane and her two relatives has been postponed.
• A woman's alleged plot to kill her son landed her in the dock of the New Brighton Magistrate's Court. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said the motive for the killing was a R2 million life insurance.
• Four people, including a relative of the victims, appeared in court in Gqeberha on 17 charges related to alleged insurance killings.

Police woman charged with insurance murders

In another story, Briefly News reported that a Limpopo police officer arrested for perpetrating alleged insurance fraud murders appeared briefly in the Polokwane Magistrate's Court on Friday, 11 October 2024.

Police arrested Rachel Shokane, who faces 19 charges, including murder, fraud and defeating the ends of justice, during an intelligence operation on Thursday.

Source: Briefly News