Rosemary Ndlovu, a South African police sergeant in her 30s, seemed like an ordinary woman with a steady job and a family. But beneath the surface, she harbored a dark secret. Struggling with a gambling addiction and pursued by loan sharks, Rosemary devised a horrifying plan to solve her financial woes: murder her own family members and collect the insurance payouts. What followed was a chilling spree of greed, betrayal, and death that shocked the nation.
Rosemary’s descent into darkness began in 2012. Desperate to pay off her debts, she hatched an insane plan to murder her cousin and claim the insurance money. First, she took out a life insurance policy on him. In South Africa, the process seemed lax, and the policy was quickly approved. Next, she lured her cousin to a remote field, where she brutally killed him with a large rock, striking him repeatedly until he died. Shortly after, she collected over 131,000 rand (about $7,000 USD) from the insurance payout. No one suspected her.
Emboldened by her success, Rosemary decided to continue her deadly scheme. Fifteen months later, she targeted her own sister. She posed as her sister to set up life and funeral insurance policies, naming herself as the beneficiary. Then, she invited her sister over for tea. While her sister went out to buy bread, Rosemary spiked the tea with poison. When her sister returned and drank the tea, the poison didn’t work as planned, so Rosemary strangled her to death. She collected 717,000 rand (about $39,000 USD) from the insurance payout.
In 2015, Rosemary turned her attention to her boyfriend. She took out 16 life and funeral insurance policies in his name and hired a hitman to kill him. The hitman attempted to shoot him, but the gun jammed. Undeterred, Rosemary set his house on fire while he was sleeping, but he managed to escape. After two close calls, the boyfriend broke up with Rosemary and moved out. Tragically, weeks later, he was stabbed 76 times and killed. Rosemary collected another 131,000 rand (about $7,000 USD) from his death.
Rosemary’s killing spree didn’t stop there. In 2016, she murdered her niece, beating her to death, and collected 65,000 rand (about $3,500 USD). Soon after, her toddler daughter died under mysterious circumstances, though it’s unclear if Rosemary was responsible. She then killed her nephew, hacking him to death, and took out funeral policies on another nephew the son of the sister she had previously murdered before killing him as well. By this point, she had murdered at least six family members and collected over 1.4 million rand (about $76,000 USD).
Despite her cunning, Rosemary’s crimes eventually caught up with her. A local police sergeant grew suspicious of the pattern of deaths in her family and began investigating. Meanwhile, Rosemary planned to kill her mother, sister, and sister’s five children. She hired a hitman to help, but he had a change of heart and went to the police. Authorities set up a sting operation, recording Rosemary discussing her plans with the hitman and an undercover cop posing as a second hitman. This evidence led to her arrest.
Rosemary’s crimes revealed a web of betrayal and greed that extended beyond her known victims. People began to suspect she was responsible for the mysterious deaths of her husband and baby son years earlier. In the end, Rosemary Ndlovu was sentenced to life in prison, bringing a measure of justice to the families she destroyed.
The story of Rosemary Ndlovu is a stark reminder of how greed and desperation can drive people to unthinkable acts. Her crimes not only devastated her own family but also exposed flaws in the insurance and legal systems that allowed her to operate for so long. While justice was served, the scars left by her actions will remain for generations.
What do you think about Rosemary Ndlovu’s case? How can society better protect against such exploitation and betrayal? Share your thoughts below.
