Durban — The defence for the man who’s alleged to have shot and killed a teen political activist in 1989, has suggested that an eye witness who was leading evidence in court was never at the scene where Siphelele Nxumalo was murdered.
“I put it to you that it was suggested to you what (to) say in terms of what happened; you know nothing about the scene where Siphelele was shot at,” said his lawyer Bongani Cele, while cross-examining Phumelele Miya in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
The trial of Gugulethu Wesley 'Matiri' Madonsela who is alleged to have been affiliated with an A-Team that worked with the Natal Security Branch, began on Monday and was adjourned to Friday.
Nxumalo who died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds, was at the time an activist of the ANC aligned United Democratic Front (UDF).
Bongani had been questioning Miya about the statement that she made to police after the shooting which contained the names and addresses of the people she had fingered as the assailants who shot Nxumalo.
Miya in her evidence in chief, had named Madonsela as one of four men who had approached her and Nxumalo in February 1989, and said the accused had pulled out a gun and shot Nxumalo, adding that the second shooter was Fano Kuben Ngobeni.
She also said that the two men were with Msafu and E; all were friends of Nxumalo and who were known to her.
In Miya’s statement that Cele read out, the names were reflected as Matiri, Msafu Linda, Ngubeni, and Mlunjisi. In the statement, the house numbers and street names of where three of the men lived were provided.
However, Miya said she did not provide house numbers as she did not know them, adding that she only knew the street names. She also disputed giving police the names Fano and Mlunjisi.
“So those were not your words the author of the statement put those details there, and the author decided to put their own information in that paragraph? I’ll say to you that you didn't know who Matiri was at that time and you did not know Kuben and Mlunjisi. I put it to you it was suggested to you who the perpetrators were,” said Cele.
However, Miya stood by her evidence that she had known the four men and that she had not provided any house numbers to the police.
Miya confirmed that the statement in question had been read back to her by the police to ascertain its correctness, and was adamant that she did not point out the house numbers to the police at the time.
“The reason you did not point out this discrepancy is because you believed in the correctness of your statement, that’s the reason why I suggest to you that you were told who to name as the perpetrators of Siphelele’s murder.”
Cele asked Miya about when she had told Nxumalo’s mother about what had happened to her son. The witness she could not remember when she had told Nxumalo’s mother who her son’s assailants were.
“When she comes to court she will say that you never approached her to tell her what happened on the night in question,” said Cele.
Miya however maintained that she did tell Nxumalo’s mother.
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