Magistrate's court sergeant already serving six-year murder sentence
A court sergeant stationed at the Tsolo Magistrate's Court in the Eastern Cape has been slapped with an additional ten-year prison term after fatally striking a woman with a police vehicle and leaving another critically hurt in a hit-and-run incident.
Manelisi William Nosasa, 35, was already behind bars serving a six-year sentence for beating a teenager to death in 2015 when the latest conviction was handed down by the Ngqueleni District Court this week.
The fatal collision occurred on 16 June 2024, when Nosasa was driving a marked police vehicle without authorisation along the road towards Ngqeleni, near Mthatha. He ploughed into two women walking along the route, killing one at the scene and leaving the other with severe injuries.
Lizzy Suping, spokesperson for the Independent Police Investigation Directorate (Ipid), confirmed the details of the incident and Nosasa's subsequent arrest.
"He allegedly fled the scene after the incident, but was later apprehended."
Rather than remaining to assist the victims or alert emergency services, Nosasa abandoned the scene following the collision. Law enforcement officials tracked him down and took him into custody shortly afterwards.
Previous conviction for beating teenager to death
The latest sentence comes just two months after Nosasa received a six-year prison term from the same court for the murder of 19-year-old Silindokuhle Bango. According to a statement released by Ipid, the deadly assault took place in October 2015 after Nosasa accused the young man of stealing his television set. The confrontation escalated into a fatal beating.
In a significant ruling, the presiding officer ordered that the two sentences must run consecutively rather than concurrently. This means Nosasa now faces a combined sixteen years of imprisonment for the two separate killings — ensuring that neither conviction is effectively absorbed by the other.
The case has raised serious questions about how a person with a violent history continued to have access to police resources, including a state vehicle, while employed within the justice system. Ipid's involvement in both matters underscores the directorate's mandate to investigate criminal conduct by members of the South African Police Service and those connected to law enforcement operations.
