ELANGENI MURDERS: HOW SUSPECT SHOCKED ‘NGOMA’

MBABANE – Former Senate Deputy President Ngomuyayona Gamedze said he was traumatised when Vusi Phineas Dlamini of Elangeni narrated how he killed one of the women whose murder and rape he is on trial for.

Gamedze testified during the trial yesterday before Judge Mzwandile Fakudze. The former senator said he realised that Vusi had guts. He said: “Lengakubona sibindzi unaso lomfokati.”

He told the court that on July 3, 2009, he was travelling home at Mfabantfu when he saw a group of people at Ngomuyayona Bus Station near his residence. He said there were police officers, community members and a man who was handcuffed. Gamedze said he did not know who the handcuffed man was and he was interested to know what their mission was. He said among the police officers were senior officers. Gamedze submitted that he spoke to Vusi and asked him who he was and if he was from the area. Vusi, according to Gamedze, spoke freely and seemed relaxed, told him his name and where he was from. 

“I asked why he was handcuffed and he said he had killed a girl. I was surprised that he had done that since he was so young. He faced down and did not respond,” said Gamedze. The former deputy Senate president informed the court that the police and others knew him since he was a senator and the officers allowed him to speak to the accused. Gamedze said he was not comfortable with people being killed and brought to his area.

Travelled 

Vusi, according to Gamedze, narrated to him that he had travelled in a taxi from Manzini with the girl in question and it dropped them off near Ngomuyayona Bus Station at night. He said the others also heard what Vusi was telling him. The girl was said to have taken alcoholic drinks but Vusi was sober and he drank only Coke.

Gamedze said Vusi told him that he had promised to give the girl E200 and they would have sexual intercourse. He said to the former senator that he was taking the girl to his home and he pointed to a house on an overlooking slope across the Mtilane River. Gamedze said he questioned Vusi on why he took home a girl he had met in town and the accused told him that they had both reached an agreement that he would pay her E200 for sexual intercourse.

“I never asked him the name of the girl because I did not think that he knew who she was, knowing the nature of the arrangement they had made,” said Gamedze. He said while Vusi was narrating the events of the fateful night, the police suggested that they should proceed to the spot where he had informed them that he killed the girl.

He submitted that it had been many years since the incident happened but he was still able to recall what happened because it haunted him. He said Vusi led them from the bus station until they reached the banks of Mtilane River. Gamedze said about five metres from the river, Vusi showed the group where he and the girl stopped after walking from the bus station. Vusi, according to Gamedze, said he told the girl that they had been walking for a long time, they should have sex right next to the river. He told the court that Vusi said he told the girl to undress and they proceeded to have sexual intercourse. The former senate president further informed the court that Vusi told him that after the sexual encounter, the girl demanded the money he had promised and he said he did not have it. This, according to what Vusi allegedly told Gamedze, led to a misunderstanding. The girl is said to have retrieved nail clippers from the bag she was carrying and the two engaged in a fight. The girl, as Vusi narrated, was quite strong as she fought with vigour and they ended up in the water. They are said to have continued to fight until he managed to press her down in the water and held her there until she died.

Sex

“I asked him; you had sex with her and then you killed her, he said yes. I asked again; you realised that you were killing her and he said yes again. I also asked; you killed her and left, he said yes.”

Gamedze said he was traumatised for a number of days and he realised that even the people who were present during the pointing out, including police officers, were touched by what Vusi was telling them. The police, according to Gamedze, then said Vusi would be taking them to another area where he allegedly killed another woman.

“I was shocked and asked him if he had killed others and he agreed. I then left but I realised that the man had guts.”

Vusi is represented by Mzwandile Dlamini of M.S. Legal while Principal Crown Counsel Macebo Nxumalo appears for the Crown. On Tuesday, an elderly man, Lukhenya Mhlanga, told the court that a human arm was found on the roof of his pit latrine. He said when they made the discovery, in front of Lobamba police, his wife fainted.

Another witness, Sipho Dlamini of Elangeni, told the court that a woman from the area, Agnes Mthembu, was found dead and naked after she went missing. Vusi, according to Sipho, narrated to the community how he allegedly killed her. 

Sipho said while they were searching for Mthembu’s clothes, they found the body of Sylvia Maphanga, the wife of a pastor. A breast had been removed from Maphanga’s body.

Vusi allegedly informed the community of Elangeni during the pointing out that both women had pleaded with him not to kill them. He is said to have stated that he strangled and drowned them at Lusushwana River. Mthembu is said to have begged Vusi not to kill her because she had left her baby at home when she went to work, but he heard none of it. 

The matter is pending in court.

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