Serial killer doccie ‘Rosemary’s Hitlist’ breaks the record

THE past few weeks have been gripping for viewers as they immersed themselves in Rosemary’s Hitlist, a documentary that follows the life of cop turned convicted serial killer Nomia Rosemary Ndlovu.

Ndlovu was sentenced to six concurrent life terms for the murders of six members of her family.

After claiming charts on both Showmax and Twitter, Rosemary’s Hitlist set a new record for the most first-day views on Showmax of any documentary series, beating true-crime phenomena like Devilsdorp and Steinheist.

Ndlovu has been charged with two counts of attempted murder for plotting to kill Sergeant Keshi Mabundla and Colonel Nthipe L Boloka, her station commander at Tembisa South police station, while she was already in prison. She pleaded not guilty.

In February 2023, Ndlovu was back in court again. She and her co-accused, another ex-cop, Nomsa Mudau, pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to murder Mudau’s ex-husband, Justice.

The jaw-dropping finale reveals that Ndlovu had taken out 28 other funeral insurance policies, including on her mother and brother. It also reveals that Mabunda was investigating Ndlovu for the alleged murder of her first child, Jaunty Khoza, who died of unnatural causes in 2008, age 13, leaving his mother with a R12 000+ payout as the only remaining beneficiary of his father, Hand Khoza, Ndlovu’s deceased first husband.

"I was supposed to go back to the grave and dig him up and do the exhumation, but looking at how she was sentenced, I said, ‘Okay, it’s fine,’ says Mabundla in the fourth and final episode. "I was thinking about the family. To go and dig up their child again, I thought it wasn’t going to sit well with the family."

Insurance consultant Edward Siweya believes Ndlovu’s case may not be the last example of “killsurance” we see.

"So far, I have not seen any movement towards closing the loophole," says Siweya in the finale. “We need reform. My view is that in the event that there is a lack of reform, we might as well expect another case in the near future, and more lives will be lost as a result."

In a statement at the end of Rosemary’s Hitlist, the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa (Asisa) commented on the documentary, saying: "By December 2022, there were some 5.8 million funeral insurance policies in South Africa. The forensic departments of these companies reported a total of four cases where the policy beneficiary was involved in the policyholder’s death.

“There is now a greater drive by the industry to partner with law enforcement agencies and regulators to ensure that criminals are brought to book."

The Star