Former police officer Nomia Ndlovu has denied tampering with evidence when she visited her sister, Audrey’s room in Tembisa after she was found dead. Audrey was found poisoned and strangled to death in her rented room in June 2013. 

The day before her she was found dead, Ndlovu had visited her and they had drunk tea together. 

It is understood that upon arrival on the scene on the day, Audrey was found dead, Ndlovu took cups she had used to drink tea with Audrey and washed them to tamper with evidence.  

She has denied this.  

“About the issue of the cup. I deny that I took the cups to wash them at the tap outside. I deny that.” 

Ndlovu says when she was in Audrey’s room she leaned back against a cupboard, the cups fell and she took them and picked them up and put them in a bucket. 

There was a back-and-forth about the position of the cups she had used to drink tea with Audrey, with the state accusing her of changing her evidence over and over again. 

She has admitted that the bucket was full of water. 

“Yes, there was water in there. I realised there was water by the sound of cups as I put them in the bucket. I was leaving the room because I had noticed what was going on in that room and I didn’t want to be there anymore.” 

She says she picked up the cups without giving it much thought as she was hysterical and crying. 

“It was never in my mind to tamper with evidence. I was hysterical and crying.”  

Previous witnesses who were on the scene disputed that she had been “hysterical or crying.” She says they couldn’t have seen her crying because they never entered the room with her. 

The state reminded her of her previous testimony where she had stated that “I washed the cups, just for tidying up.” 

It was at this point that Ndlovu complained about feeling dizzy and asking for a break. Subsequent to the break not much happened still as she continued to complain about not feeling well, prompting the judge to stand down matters for the day, resuming Tuesday morning. 

The court had earlier heard that the former police officer had cashed in R717 421.20 in policy insurance payouts.  

She has told the court she couldn’t remember the amount of money she had made “…reason being there were policies taken out by me and there were those taken out by her. And these payouts do not all happen at the same time.” 

Last week, Ndlovu taken up on the accusation that she had called an insurance company posing as Audrey to take up a life insurance policy – an accusation which was supported by the evidence of an audiologist who confirmed the voice on the call recording from the insurance company was indeed that of Ndlovu’s and not Audrey’s. 

Ndlovu has denied this saying the voice on the recorded phone was not hers.   

“I never took policies pretending to be Audrey. I just want to add this, my lord, my voice is very much similar to that of my sister’s. If she was here and she spoke, you’d swear it was me speaking,” she has told the court.  

She has failed to explain how Audrey listed her as the sole beneficiary while she (Audrey) had a child.

The former police officer was arrested in 2018, on accusations of listing family members on insurance policies and later killing them to cash in on policy payouts. She says she did so to avoid being burdened in the event one of them passed on as she had experienced it before.  

The state will continue with her cross-examination tomorrow morning.