By Everson Luhanga
Convicted serial murderer and Killsurance Queen Rosemary Nomia Ndlovu has been found in possession of a mobile phone in her jail cell.
Department of Correctional Services (DCS) spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said on Sunday that the department has laid internal charges against Ndlovu for “contravening the Correctional Services Act” after she was caught with the phone.
“Inmates found in possession of cellphones are charged in terms of section 23(1) of the Correctional Services Act. They are then reprimanded accordingly, a process which may involve a withdrawal of privileges for a specified period, reclassification (downgrade), and other punitive measures.
“Illegal activities and deviant behaviour by inmates have no place in correctional facilities. DCS is working towards achieving contraband-free centers, hence different measures are being employed by means of removing all illegal items in our centres,” said Nxumalo.
A former police officer at the Tembisa South cop shop, Ndlovu was found guilty of murdering six of her relatives, including her partner, between 2012 and 2018. She was found to have taken out life and insurance policies for her targets and collected as much as R1.4m in payouts after their deaths.
Ndlovu was sentenced to six life terms for the murders, 10 years each on four counts of fraud, 10 years each for seven charges of incitement to commit murder, and 10 years for attempting to murder her mother, Maria Mushawana.
Scrolla.Africa broke the story in 2019 after Ndlovu was recorded trying to enlist an undercover police officer and another man posing as hitmen to burn her sister Joyce and her five children to death inside her house. This led to her arrest and subsequent conviction.
This is not the first time Ndlovu has been found in possession of a cellphone. Scrolla.Africa reported in 2020 that she was removed from Johannesburg Correctional Services to Kgosi Mampuru II prison after she was then found with a cellphone.
Read the original Killsurance series on Scrolla.Africa.
