Flabba’s killer fights to stay out of jail
Sindisiwe Manqele has not started serving her sentence because of her intention to appeal.
|||Johannesburg - Everyone close to her has died. Her mother, father, and siblings have all died.
At only 27, she is all alone - to make matter’s worse she fatally stabbed her boyfriend during a fight while she was on a visit to South Africa from Dublin, Ireland.
The once glamorous and photogenic Sindisiwe Manqele had been studying economics and had a part-time job in Dublin where she has lived since since 2011 - that was until tragedy struck in Alexandra township, Johannesburg, in March last year.
Manqele had been meant to go back to Dublin in January but she probably regrets extending her stay in South Africa.
When the murder of her boyfriend - hip hop rapper Nkululeko “Flabba” Habedi - was first reported Manqele’s immaculate face was splashed all over newspapers and television.
It has been a while since anyone who has attended her trial saw Manqele’s pretty face, which she is determined not to show.
On Thursday when Judge Solly Sithole sentenced her to 12 years in prison for killing Habedi, Manqele hid her face in a shawl.
Manqele is a well-groomed woman but she has spent a year hiding behind various shawls - it has been that long since she fatally stabbed Flabba of Swatta Kamp fame in the heart with a steak knife during a lover’s tiff in a back room in Alexandra township.
“You are a victim of mutual jealousy. History shows that you had possessive and abusive relationships not only with Habedi,” Sithole said during sentencing.
“As presented in the psychologist’s report you are not an inherently evil person and there is a good chance you can be rehabilitated. Rehabilitation starts with you; you must admit that what you did was wrong and be ready for rehabilitation.”
The jealous rage between the lovers ended in tears after Manqele stabbed Flabba in the chest with such force she pierced his heart. Sithole noted that Manqele had tried to revive her dying boyfriend by applying cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
The deadly lovers fight took place in the witching hours of Monday March 9, 2015, after a boozy night out at a Sandton club.
A week later, on Sunday, Flabba was given a send off at Alexandra Stadium where his daughter Lesego gave him a moving tribute.
“I know that you’re never going to walk through that door and that makes my heart really, really sore,” said Lesego, 13, in a mature manner way beyond her tender age.
“I’ll just have to be strong for you because I know that’s what you want me to be. Instead of crying and crying, I’d rather be celebrating. For I am celebrating what you’ve done for people you care about… In fact, I thank you for everything you have done for us.”
Flabba, whose group Skwatta Kamp was founded in 1996 and last released an album seven years ago, was said to be experiencing financial problems and had become increasingly aggressive towards Manqele - at least that is what she told the high court when the matter was still being heard in Randburg.
In their heyday Skwatta Kamp won numerous awards, including two South African Music Awards for best rap album, and a Channel O best hip hop music video award.
During sentencing in the High Court in Johannesburg, sitting in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, Sithole said it was difficult to say with any degree of certainty what had happened on that fateful early morning when Manqele stabbed Flabba.
Born on October 17, 1977, in Orlando, Soweto, Flabba was 37 when his girlfriend - 11 years younger - stabbed him to death. Sithole said there were only two people present during the fight and the other one was dead.
Before Sithole found Manqele guilty of murder on December 9, last year, he said: “It’s quite obvious that the tension was building up… No-one witnessed what happened in the bedroom but the accused… The question is whether she intentionally killed Habedi. The court must not only look at the evidence brought forward by the State and defence, but must look at probabilities and improbabilites of the case.”
On that day Manqele peered at the judge from behind one of her many shawls, which she held in place with well-manicured fingers. It was hard to tell if she was crying or not. Her big sad eyes rarely lifted from the floor.
While the minimum sentence for murder in South Africa is 15 years, Sithole said there were enough reasons to give her a lesser punishment.
He said because Manqele had tried to revive Flabba after she stabbed him, never fled the scene, and her personal circumstances - her mother, father, and siblings all dead - he was imposing a lighter sentence of 12 years with the possibility of parole after eight years.
No-one was happy with the sentence - Flabba’s friends and relatives wanted a longer period of incarceration.
Clearly upset, Flabba’s daughter Lesego walked out of the court in silence.
Manqela’s lawyer Norman Makhubela immediately said his client would apply for leave to appeal and requested that her R10 000 bail be extended.
Flabba’s mother Agatha, who was with friends and family, said later: “I’m okay. It doesn’t make a difference whether I’m pleased [with the sentence] or not. He [Flabba] is gone… who am I to judge? She will get her judgment day with her Lord. As it is, she is in hell.”
Manqele, who still insists she fatally stabbed Flabba in self-defence, has not started serving her sentence because of her intention to appeal both the murder conviction and sentence.
Sithole granted Manqele bail of R25 00 and ordered that she be required to wear a tracking device and report at the Midrand police station twice a week.
National Prosecuting Authority spokeswoman Phindi Louw said the state was satisfied with the sentence but not pleased that Manqele was granted bail.
Prosecutor Paul Schutter indicated that the State would oppose Manqele’s application for leave to appeal, set to be heard on April 12.
African News Agency