The State, in the trial of five men accused of gunning down two ANC members from Ward 101 in Cato Crest, has applied to have two of its eyewitnesses testify in camera with their faces obscured as they fear for their lives.
The accused men Nkosinathi Emmanuel Ngcobo, Sandile Mzizi, Mkhipheni Mzimuni Ngiba a former ward councillor of ward 101, Sifiso Vincent Mlondo and Phathesakhe Ngiba are charged with gunning down Siyabonga Mkhize and Mzukisi Nyanga on October 15, 2021 at Cato Manor.
Mkhize was the ward candidate of Ward 101 and was contesting the 2021 local government elections against Ngiba. Mkhize’s death resulted in Ngiba becoming the ward councillor.
The KZN deputy director of public prosecutions advocate Lawrence Gcaba on Wednesday at the Durban High Court called the investigating officer Sergeant Kubheka, who is attached to the National political task team.
Kubheka (who asked that only his surname be revealed) told the Durban High Court that during the bail application of the accused, in his affidavit, he had opposed bail because of the possibility of interference of the witnesses.
“I even gave evidence regarding this,” he said.
Moreover, he said the team has obtained two witness statements that identified the shooters of Mkhize and Nyanga. He said when the State had to disclose the contents of the docket, the names of the two witnesses were blurred out.
“The reason for this was they fear of their lives, as they have reported. They also (the witnesses) said they don’t want their names to be revealed and to be known here in court,” he explained.
Kubheka told the court that the witnesses said the area that they lived in was not safe and that they could get harmed at any time.
“They said they do not have a problem with coming to testify in court. They requested to have their faces hidden,” he said.
Kubheka reminded the court that when the accused, except for Phathesakhe, applied for bail on new facts, he handed a statement that said one of the State witnesses had been threatened.
Defence counsel for Ngiba and Ngcobo, advocate Andrew Matlamela, asked for the identity documents of the two witnesses, however, Judge Garth Harrison said he was not going to allow this as it defeated the purpose of the State’s application which falls under Section 153 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
Section 153 states that the witness may testify behind closed doors and that their identity may not be revealed if the court is of the opinion that the witness may be harmed by someone during the trial
Judge Harrison said Matlamela could verify the ages of the eyewitnesses by using their date of birth.
He said it was important to emphasise that the application was limited to only two witnesses at this time. He granted the state the application and said the media and members of the public would not be allowed in court when the witnesses testify on Thursday.