The incident occurred in May 2018 when Chabalala and his friend, Given Mzamane, were lured to the Tambotle block of flats in Sunnyside, Pretoria, under the guise of a luxury camera advertisement. The two were robbed inside the residential unit on the seventh floor, with Chabalala being thrown out of the window and dying at the scene.
Mzamane testified that he could escape but not before witnessing two men participate in the robbery and attack him and Chabalala.
The police spokesperson for Sunnyside, Captain Daniel Mavimbela, confirmed the details of the incident. Dumkele was found guilty of the murder of Chabalala and aggravated robbery and was sentenced to an additional 15 years in prison. He also received a 12-month suspended sentence on the condition that he be extradited to Nigeria once his concurrent sentence is complete.
The trial lasted for over two years and saw the prosecution present damning evidence against Dumkele, including CCTV footage of him entering and exiting the residential unit on the seventh floor. The defence argued that the footage was inconclusive, but the court found Dumkele guilty.