The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) High Court in Pietermaritzburg has set aside the May 2022 conviction and sentence of a man who was found guilty of murder and sentenced to two life terms in jail.
In a judgement handed down on Thursday by judges Garth Harrison, Nompumelelo Radebe and Pieter Bezuidenhout, they said the appeal launched by Innocent Thabani Ngcobo against his May 2022 conviction and sentence is upheld.
Harrison said Ngcobo’s conviction and sentence is set aside.
Ngcobo was convicted on May 12 2022 by the KZN Division of the High Court, Northeastern circuit local division in Mtunzini.
Convicted on three counts of murder
He was found guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder on May 12 2022.
On the same day, Ngcobo was sentenced to life imprisonment on two of the counts of murder. He received 15 years on the third count of murder, and eight years for attempted murder.
Ngcobo challenged his conviction and sentence in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). And the appellate court granted him leave to appeal on September 28 2023.
On May 30 2025, the KZN High Court sitting in Pietermaritzburg heard the oral arguments in the appeal matter.
After closing oral arguments, the court made an order to uphold Ngcobo’s appeal. It set aside the convictions and sentences, indicating that it would give reasons at a later stage.
The court handed down the reasons for its order on Thursday.
Attorney not present during confession
According to the evidence presented in court, Harrison said on November 11 2018, Ngcobo had received information from his family that the police were looking for him. They had, apparently, been told that should Ngcobo not report himself, the police would “bury him”.
“The family organised an attorney, Mr Manzini, who accompanied the appellant [Ngcobo] to the Empangeni Police Station. The investigating officer in the matter, Sergeant Shange, then drove from Durban to collect the appellant in Empangeni.
“And, when the appellant was handed over, received a business card of the attorney, Mr Manzini. [Manzini] specifically advised Sgt Shange that he was representing the appellant. And ‘…that whenever a statement needs to be taken from him, then they will have to call me. Because I will have to be there before the statement is taken from him’. That evidence from attorney, Mr Manzini, was led in the trial within a trial. And it was never challenged,” said Harrison.
Moreover, Ngcobo testified during his original trial as to how he came to be arrested. How he had received word the day before that the police were looking for him. And how his family had arranged for an attorney.
“He confirmed that he was taken to the police by Mr Manzini. And thereafter, he testified that he was assaulted whilst on the drive back to Durban. Thus resulting in him making a confession,” said Harrison.
Harrison said after the trial-within-a-trial regarding the admissibility of Ngcobo’s confession, the judge in the original trial admitted Ngcobo’s confession and thereafter convicted him.
Coerced confession ‘unsafe’
Harrison said it was “unsafe” to admit Ngcobo’s confession in his original trial.
“It is clear from the aforegoing and especially the manner in which the preliminary questions to the taking of the confession are framed that the appellant [Ngcobo] had the right to consult ‘before’ the making of the statement.
“Just like in the matter of Ndlovu, Sgt Shange and Lt Col Ngubane were aware that the appellant had a legal representative. And crucially in this instance, the evidence of Mr Manzini was never questioned. Mr Manzini was clear and unequivocal that he had to be consulted and be present when his client made any statement,” said Harrison.
“In a similar vein, we consider the admission of the confession in the present appeal to be unsafe. Where an accused person has an attorney of record, and where the police ask the question whether an accused wishes to consult with their attorney ‘before’ the making of a confession, then, it is unsafe for the court to rely on the confession where no such consultation has taken place.
“The appeal against conviction and sentence is upheld. The conviction and sentence of 12 May 2022 is set aside,” said Harrison.
