Gasps echoed through the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban on Monday when a convicted murderer refused to be sentenced, abruptly derailing proceedings in a case that has gripped both the court and the victim’s family.
Former Chester Butcheries employee Mlungisi Phakamani Mpanza, found guilty of murdering Durban metro police inspector Errol George Ogle during a revenge hijacking, stunned the courtroom when he defiantly rejected being sentenced and demanded a review of his case.
“I don’t want to be sentenced when I have not committed the offence. I want the case to [be] reviewed, I don’t [want] to appeal – I want to have it reviewed,” Mpanza boldly declared before Judge Garth Harrison.
The outburst came moments after Harrison delivered his judgment in the drawn-out hijacking and murder trial, which involved three accused and a violent robbery that ended with a police officer dead and a patrol car stolen.
Mpanza was the only one of the three accused to be convicted of Ogle’s murder, found guilty under the doctrine of common purpose. Co-accused Mzomuhle Lawrence Gamede escaped a murder conviction but was convicted on hijacking, kidnapping and robbery charges. The third accused, Sabelo Mncube, walked free after being acquitted of all charges.
The dramatic scenes in court proved too much for Ogle’s widow, Faith, who stormed out as Mpanza protested and challenged the process. Outside the courtroom, her frustration and grief spilled over.
She said:
“I’d expected finality today, he [Mpanza] is now playing mind games, it’s not fair that at this point in time they want to play games. I am highly disappointed.”
Faith described Mpanza’s behaviour as “rubbing salt” into her wounds, saying she had steeled herself for the emotional blow of hearing his sentence, only to be met with another delay. She also expressed mixed feelings about Mncube’s surprising acquittal, after sitting through days of evidence about detailed planning and coordination among the accused.
The case has laid bare the ruthless planning behind what began as a revenge hijacking and ended with a metro police inspector dead on the side of a busy freeway.
The deadly chain of events started in July 2023, when the trio – Mpanza, Gamede and Mncube – allegedly teamed up with two fugitives known only as Khaye and Spha to hijack a Chester Butcheries truck. The vehicle, loaded with meat cargo worth R731 530, had left the company’s Pinetown wholesaler when it was targeted.
The revenge plot was masterminded by Mpanza after his dismissal from Chester Butcheries for participating in an unlawful strike. Evidence before the court showed that he was the driving force behind the plan to strike back at his former employer.
The planning was intricate. The case exposed how Mncube, who was still employed at Chester at the time of the crime, had communicated with his co-accused about the truck’s departure from the Pinetown wholesaler, providing critical information to set the hijacking in motion.
State witness Vuyokhule Jam-Jam, who drove the vehicle that collected accomplices Khaye and Spha and followed the meat truck before the hijacking, gave key testimony about these movements. Judge Harrison described Jam-Jam’s evidence as credible and reliable, and he was discharged from prosecution.
The hijacked truck’s journey did not go smoothly. Tragedy struck when it developed mechanical problems on the M7 freeway near Malvern. The truck came to a stop on the off-ramp, facing oncoming traffic, causing a traffic jam.
Inspector Ogle, 52, approached the stranded vehicle during the congestion. It was then that he was shot once in the chest. The killers fled in Ogle’s marked patrol car after stealing his service firearm, leaving the veteran metro police officer fatally wounded.
Harrison’s judgment on Monday focused strongly on what Mpanza knew and expected when he set the hijacking in motion. Crucial to his murder conviction was evidence that Mpanza had specifically asked whether Khaye and Spha were armed before the crime.
This knowledge, the court found, showed that Mpanza foresaw the deadly potential of their mission. Under the doctrine of common purpose, that foresight and his role in planning the hijacking made him liable for Ogle’s killing, even if he did not pull the trigger himself.
But instead of moving straight into arguments on sentence, the courtroom was thrown into disarray by Mpanza’s refusal to accept his fate. After Judge Harrison explained that case reviews applied to regional courts and not to the high court, Mpanza abruptly changed tack and pleaded for more time.
He said:
“I can’t have [a] sentence today, I need time, give me another date, I don’t know if the law permits my request.”
His sudden demand opened the way for a further delay. Advocate Ali Essop, representing Gamede, quickly used the moment to request more time to prepare his submissions.
“I’m preparing comprehensive submissions for mitigation of sentence and need time to prepare. Maybe this will give Mpanza time for what he is asking for,” Essop told the court.
Judge Harrison ultimately granted an adjournment, postponing sentencing until Wednesday. However, he made it clear that the court would not be stalled indefinitely. Harrison warned that sentencing would proceed on the new date, with both the defence and the State expected to present mitigation and aggravation arguments.
The postponement has extended the agony for Ogle’s family, who have already endured the details of how a workplace grudge and a meat truck hijacking escalated into a fatal shooting.
Faith, who has sat through testimony about her husband’s final moments and watched the man held responsible attempt to dodge his sentence, said the delay was a bitter blow at a time when she had been bracing herself for closure.
The case has also highlighted the broader criminal network around the hijacking. While Mpanza and Gamede await sentencing and Mncube walks free, the two alleged accomplices, Khaye and Spha, remain at large. Their names surfaced repeatedly during the trial as the armed men Mpanza turned to when he sought to strike back at Chester Butcheries.
As the matter stands, Mpanza has been convicted of murder, hijacking and related offences flowing from the truck robbery and Ogle’s death, while Gamede faces jail time for his role in the hijacking, kidnapping and robbery. Jam-Jam, whose testimony helped to piece together the crime, has been discharged. Mncube has been released after being cleared of all charges.
On Wednesday, all eyes will again be on Court in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban – on Mpanza to see whether he makes any new attempts to challenge the process, on the judge as he weighs up the appropriate punishment, and on Ogle’s widow, who returns in the hope that this time, the justice system will finally deliver the finality she has been waiting for.
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