Former SAPS captain jailed for 10 years

A former captain in the South African Police Services (SAPS) has been sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for conspiring to kill the uMzinyathi District Commissioner, Major-General Francis Slambert.

Captain Roshanlal Banawo, 63, was convicted and sentenced in the Newcastle Magistrate’s Court. 

The NPA in KwaZulu-Natal said Banawo was found guilty of attempting to hire a hitman to kill Slambert between May 2023 and August 2023. 

NPA spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said the court heard that Banawo approached a middleman and requested him to secure a hitman.

"They then secured the assistance of the hitman who travelled to Dundee to kill Slambert. However, this did not happen. The provincial task team received information about the plot to kill the commissioner and probed the matter."

The NPA said these investigations led them to the middleman and the hitman.

"Cellphone records obtained by the task team confirmed communication between the middleman and Banawo. Banawo was arrested thereafter."

State Prosecutor Advocate Adriaan Truter led the evidence of the hitman and the middleman, who testified about the conspiracy to murder the commissioner. 

Cellphone data analysis and documentary evidence, such as protection orders between the parties, were also added to the State’s case. 

Banawo was sentenced accordingly and declared unfit to possess a firearm.

The NPA welcomed the successful finalisation of the matter. 

“Matters of this nature are serious, and the NPA and our partners in the Justice Cluster remain resolute in our fight against crime. We hope this sentence conveys the desired deterrent message,” Ramkisson-Kara said.

Cape Times