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‘S’CHAZA’ MURDER: COP ‘OBAMA’ ACQUITTED!

05/02/2020 08:55:00 BY KWANELE DLAMINI AND MBONGISENI NDZIMANDZE

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MBABANE – Who killed ‘S’chaza’? This question will remain unanswered following the acquittal and discharge of police officer Lucky ‘Obama’ Matsenjwa, who was charged, among other offences, with the murder of Mduduzi ‘S’chaza’ Matsebula.

Matsebula is the police officer whose battered body was found floating in a river in Ezulwini, in May 2017.
He was a key witness in a case involving Matsebula and other police officers who were accused of allegedly wrongfully deleting fingerprint records from the criminal data system. Matsebula was also part of Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala’s security detail.

Matsenjwa was widely believed to have allegedly eliminated Matsebula to prevent him from testifying against him in the ongoing fingerprints case.
Yesterday, the High Court found that there was no evidence that Matsenjwa had anything to do with whoever killed or harmed Matsebula.
The matter was heard by Judge Mbutfo Mamba.

Charges

The court went on to acquit the accused on six other charges which include theft, contempt of court, defeating and attempt to defeat the ends of justice.
However, the judge found that Matsenjwa has a case to answer on four of the 11 charges he was facing.

This is contained in a ruling that was made by the court after Matsenjwa filed an application in terms of Section 174(4) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act of 1938 (as amended) after the Crown closed its case upon leading 34 witnesses.

In terms of this section, ‘If at the close of the case for the prosecution, the court considers that the accused committed the offence charged or any other offence which he might be convicted thereon, it may acquit and discharge him.’
Whether or not to acquit the accused is the discretion of the court which, when improperly exercised, according to Judge Mamba, is abuse of such power and no discretion at all.

To prove its case, the Crown, which was represented by Macebo Nxumalo, relied more on the evidence of Terry Ngcebo Vermaak, who is also a police officer.
This was because Matsenjwa was said to have been eager to meet and request Matsebula not to implicate him in the fingerprints case he is involved in. Matsenjwa, according to the Crown, allegedly solicited the assistance of numerous people to urge Matsebula not to testify truthfully against him.

Requested

Matsenjwa was believed to have requested Vermaak to invite Matsebula to Solani’s Shisanyama on May 12, 2017. Some witnesses testified that Matsenjwa was in Mbabane on the night Matsebula disappeared but he allegedly requested the witnesses to deny that.

Vermaak testified that Matsenjwa offered the services of his brother to transport Matsebula to Solani’s Shisanyama from the police camp. Matsenjwa, according to the evidence of the Crown, left Solani’s Shisanyama at night and never returned to meet Vermaak despite setting up the meeting.

The Crown also presented evidence to the effect that after the disappearance and death of Matsebula, Matsenjwa was frantically asking people, who were being interviewed by the police, about the nature of the investigations. The court was further informed that Matsenjwa went to Nelspruit to allegedly cleanse himself after the death of Matsebula.

Blood samples found in a black VW Golf matched Matsebula’s and the Crown submitted that this vehicle was the one that Matsenjwa offered to collect the deceased from the police camp when he was last seen alive.
“Taken individually and cumulatively, this material is very poor and weak to be characterised as evidence implicating the accused person in this case. No court acting reasonably and judicially may return a guilty verdict bases thereon,” said the judge.

Judge Mamba mentioned that there was clearly no evidence on how the blood samples came to be deposited in the motor vehicle.
“Furthermore, the Crown has not stated when such blood was deposited there. Crucially, there is no evidence that the accused had anything to do with whoever allegedly killed or harmed the deceased at the relevant time.”

Matsenjwa’s anxiety to know about the fate of Matsebula before and after his death, according to the court, was also reasonably understandable since there is the pending fingerprints matter where Matsebula was a key witness. Judge Mamba said the anxiety of the accused did not point solely to his guilt or want of innocence.

“From the above analysis of the facts and the applicable law, I have no hesitation in holding that no reasonable court, acting carefully and judicially, may convict on the evidence presented herein in respect of Count One and Two. The accused is accordingly acquitted and discharged in respect of these counts as well.”
Count one was the charge of murder in respect of the death of Matsebula, whose disfigured body was found on May 12, 2017 in a river.
The court also found that the evidence of Vermaak, Constable Sihle Dlamini and Bhekumuzi Masilela to the effect that Matsenjwa was in Mbabane on the night Matsebula disappeared was credible.

Urged

Judge Mamba said he accepted the evidence of Vermaak that Matsenjwa urged him to lie to the police and say that he was not in Mbabane on the day in question. The court refused to discharge him on this count.

Matsenjwa was also charged with contempt of court in that, after being granted bail in October 2014 in respect of the fingerprints case and upon his rearrest, he was found to have not surrendered his passport and travelled to the Republic of South Africa using the passport.

Judge Mamba said: “That, in my judgment falls short of establishing a case for contempt of court by failing to follow an order of court. The Crown ought to have led evidence to show that the precise terms of the court had been brought to the attention and knowledge of the accused before he used his passport to travel outside the country. There is no such evidence whatsoever.”

Accused

Matsenjwa was further accused of urging Vermaak to ask Matsebula not to testify against him and this occurred at the Garage Bar in April 2017. Matsenjwa’s application for acquittal in this count was refused.
Judge Mamba acquitted him on the charge of allegedly requesting Siboniso Simelane to ask Matsebula to change his statement as a witness in the fingerprints case. The evidence of this witness, according to the court, does not support the allegation in the indictment.

“I also do not think that such advice by the accused was unlawful or was an attempt to obstruct or defeat the ends of justice. I accordingly hold that there is no evidence implicating the accused on this count and he is acquitted and discharged.”

Another police officer, Mongi Simelane, also accused Matsenjwa of urging him to lie that he was not in Mbabane when Matsebula disappeared and deny that he had any knowledge regarding him (Matsenjwa) and Matsebula to investigators. One of the investigators was the late Solomon Mavuso.
Meanwhile, during the hearing of the matter, Matsenjwa alleged that police officers assaulted, and ordered him to sign a statement they had prepared for him.