A photo of murdered prosecutor Tracy Brown, displayed at her memorial service in Gqeberha. (Photo: Deon Ferreira) At the time of her July 2025 assassination, Nelson Mandela Bay state attorney Tracy Brown was working as a regional court prosecutor at the New Brighton Magistrates’ Court.
Among her many cases, Buhle Mbini’s docket landed on her desk after he was arrested for the illegal possession of a firearm after he was allegedly caught with an unlicensed AK-47.
His case was reported as close to completion when Brown’s life was cut short.
On Monday, Mbini appeared in the Gqeberha Magistrates’ Court, alongside three other men, as one of the accused charged with Brown’s violent death.
The prosecution alleges that Mbini is the mastermind behind the prosecutor’s murder, and arranged for her to be killed from inside the St Albans Prison, where he was being held pending the outcome of the firearm case.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Tracy-Brown-1.jpg "Gqeberha public prosecutor Tracy Brown. (Photo: Supplied / Facebook).")
Brown was gunned down outside her Young Park, Gqeberha home on 31 July 2025, in front of her partner and daughter. She was rushed to hospital, but succumbed to her wounds en route.
Her death sent shockwaves through the legal fraternity and brought much-needed attention to the safety concerns of public prosecutors and court officials.
Mbini and his co-accused Simthembile Xungu, Ayabulela Busakwe and Thamsanqa Mthembu, made a brief appearance before the court, where their matter was postponed until 20 July.
It is believed that the magistrate presiding over Mbini’s firearm-related matter has since recused himself, and that case will now be joined to the matter related to Brown’s murder.
They face several charges, including murder, conspiracy to commit murder, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition and charges related to the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.
The court also heard that the Hawks are following up on leads outside the Eastern Cape as part of their ongoing investigation.
Xungu was arrested for Brown’s murder first, in August 2025. Busakwe joined him shortly thereafter, while he was already in custody in connection with the kidnapping of Kariega businesswoman Theresa Minnie, also in August 2025.
About five months later, Mthembu was apprehended near Bloemfontein and brought back to Nelson Mandela Bay.
/file/attachments/orphans/ThamsanqaMthembu11_224773.jpg "Thamsanqa Mthembu, 33, was arrested in the Free State in connection with the murder of Gqeberha public prosecutor Tracy Brown. (Photo: Supplied / Hawks)")
Evidence led during their bail proceedings, including eyewitness accounts and cellphone records, placed the accused around the court where Brown worked and in the vicinity of her home on the day of her death.
The allegations are that they received instructions from Mbini, from inside St Albans, to murder Brown in an attempt to thwart the State’s case against him.
All four men remain in custody until their next court appearance. The prosecution said more arrests could be made soon.
Part of the investigation is also centred on the accused’s possible involvement in an organised crime syndicate specialising in kidnappings for ransom.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/20250827_123415.jpg "Accused Ayabulela Busakwe (left) and Simthembile Xungu will remain behind bars. (Photo: Riaan Marais)")
At this stage, Busakwe is the only accused linked to a kidnapping, but the investigation continues.
Busakwe is due back in the Kariega Magistrate’s Court soon, where he is set to stand trial alongside Andile Mathumbu for Minnie’s kidnapping from her Fairbridge Heights home on 11 August 2025. DM