Convicted hitman Deon Mathonsi Chonco was sentenced to 20 years behind bars for the murder of land-grab whistle blower Xolani Ntombela in the Pietermaritzburg regional court on Friday.
The murder occurred on November 3 2022 in the Nguga area of eMasosheni in Mpophomeni near Howick. The area is notorious for the illegal sale of land.
Chonco is also charged alongside Inkosi Simphiwe Zuma for the death of DA uMngeni councillor Nhlalayenza Ndlovu, who was murdered in front of his family, including his wife and children, in Mpophomeni in December 2023.
In a plea read out by his legal representative, Zipho Khanyile, the court heard how he met Derrick Zwelithini Buthelezi in 2020.
On September 6 2025, after the arrest of his other co-accused, he decided to plead guilty to Ntombela’s murder.
He alleged that Buthelezi hatched the plot to kill Ntombela.
He admitted to causing Ntombela’s death by facilitating gunmen to shoot him and shared a R30,000 fee given to him by Buthelezi.
Chonco said on November 2 2022 he enlisted the help of two associates and they went to a site where Ntombela was working as a builder, under the pretence of looking for work.
They returned a day later to the site and his two associates, armed with 9mm pistols, shot him.
Chonco also appeared briefly in connection with the Ndlovu murder charge on Friday.
The courtroom was packed with iNkosi Simphiwe Zuma’s family members.
The matter was adjourned to April 24 for a possible plea.
In January, Chonco, 32, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Pietermaritzburg high court after he was convicted of the murder of five family members in Bulwer in an unrelated matter.
In February, he was sentenced to 20 years for the murder of Qalokunye Zuma, a senior induna from the Nxamalala tribal authority.
TimesLIVE
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