The National Prosecuting Authority has secured three life sentences each for Cebo Soboyise and Zola Golela after a 24-hour Cape Town robbery and murder spree on 26 November 2019. The Western Cape High Court convicted both men of three murders, four counts of armed robbery and illegal possession of a firearm.
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A 24-hour spree across Khayelitsha, Bellville and Delft
The crimes began at the Shoprite Liquor Store in Makhaza, Khayelitsha, on the afternoon of 26 November 2019. Two armed men forced a security guard to the floor and robbed two cashiers of their till drawers. That evening three men robbed Idahoff Superette in Voortrekker Road, Bellville, of cash, cigarettes and cellphones. A customer’s stolen iPhone was later tracked and led police to the arrests in Mfuleni.
Brothers murdered in front of their father in Delft
Just after midnight, Sandiswa Zwakala and his two sons Siyabonga and Siyanda were preparing for bed at their Delft home. Siyanda stepped outside to smoke and was shot. His father and brother ran out and found one of the accused inside the lounge holding a firearm. Siyabonga was shot as he tried to close the burglar door and died in his father’s arms. Siyanda’s body was found on the couch.
Off-duty officer Thanduxolo Stuma shot at close range
Minutes later the group robbed off-duty police officer Thanduxolo Wiseman Stuma of his cellphone in Thubelitsha, Delft. He was shot at close range after resisting and died at the scene.
How the NPA built the case
State Advocate Darren Rudolph of the NPA’s Organised Crime Component led a six-year prosecution without direct eyewitness identification of the accused. The conviction rested on 18 witnesses, ballistic and gunshot residue reports, cellphone-tower data, distinctive clothing identification and the recovery of stolen items at the point of arrest. Adv Rudolph also proved that Golela’s claim of a stolen vehicle reported to Philippi Police Station was fabricated, since no such record existed.
Sentences handed down
The court imposed three life sentences each for the three murders, 60 years direct imprisonment each for the four robberies with aggravating circumstances and 15 years each for illegal possession of a firearm. Both men were declared unfit to possess a firearm and the Registrar of Firearms was ordered notified. Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions Adv Nicolette Bell welcomed the verdict.
Sources
National Prosecuting Authority press release issued by Eric Ntabazalila, Regional Communications Manager, Western Cape, 5 May 2026. Western Cape Division of the High Court, Cape Town, sentencing judgment.
