The Gabara family of Tshimbupfe went home disappointed again after the long-delayed court case of Ms Elelwani Jane Nedzamba, which was expected to resume at the Sibasa Regional Court on Thursday, 23 March, was postponed yet again to sort out issues pertaining to the case.
Nedzamba (37) was arrested by the Hawks on 24 February 2021, after she had allegedly plotted with hitmen to kill the father of her son, a police officer at the Makhado Dog Unit, over a maintenance dispute. The Hawks received a tip-off from one of the hitmen Nedzamba had allegedly hired, who told them about the plans to assassinate Sergeant Jutas Gabara (46). Nedzamba was arrested shortly after she had made a withdrawal of R10 000, allegedly to pay the hitman.
The Gabara family, who described Nedzamba as "an evil woman", was shocked when she appeared in the Thohoyandou Magistrate's Court in 2021 for conspiracy to commit murder and was granted a mere R1 000 bail, despite the seriousness of the charge.
The family spokesperson, Mr Nthambeleni Gabara, said the family was disappointed by the latest development and still did not understand how the court could grant bail to this "dangerous person".
"We understand that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but as far as we understand, the Hawks have all the evidence that directly links Nedzamba to this conspiracy to have my brother killed. The fact that she is not in jail, that the so-called hitmen are also out there, is very difficult for us as a family to accept and we don't feel safe. My brother and his wife are living very stressful lives because we don't actually know Nedzamba's next move. Anyone in the justice system who disagrees with us when we say that justice delayed is justice denied, let them prove us otherwise. We want to see this case finalised without even attempting to pre-empt the outcome of the court [proceedings]," he said.
The case was postponed to 20 April.