‘NCAZA’ IN TEARS AS HE NARRATES SHOOTING INCIDENT

MBABANE – Emotions got the better of Mbuso ‘Ncaza’ Nkosi yesterday when he narrated to the court how he shot businessman Victor Gamedze.

Nkosi was giving evidence in the matter in which Sipho Shongwe is facing a charge of the murder of Gamedze, who was also a football administrator. At the beginning of his testimony, Nkosi was calm and exuded confidence as he went about telling the court about the events that led to the murder of Gamedze. As he explained what happened at Ezulwini Galp Filling Station on January 14, 2018, the day Gamedze was shot in cold blood, he spoke in a low voice and his face dropped. Nkosi is the one who allegedly pulled the trigger on Gamedze. He was giving his evidence as an accomplice witness before Judge Nkosinathi Maseko. He told the court that he, in the company of his countryman, who was also an accomplice witness, Siphiwe ‘Tata’ Ngubane and Sandile ‘Dzodzo’ Zikalala/Luthango, followed Gamedze from Somhlolo National Stadium where Mbabane Swallows played against Manzini Wanderers.

Complained

Gamedze, according to Nkosi, parked his car at Galp Filling Station and went into the convenience store. At the time, Nkosi submitted, Ngubane complained of stomach ache and went to a nearby bush to relieve himself. He said at that moment, ‘Dzodzo’ said they should carry out the job on Gamedze right away. Nkosi told the court that he took a firearm, one of two which he alleged had been provided by Shongwe, and walked towards the filling station, while ‘Dzodzo’ removed the registration plates from his Red VW Polo 6 in which they were travelling in. Nkosi submitted that he approached Gamedze’s vehicle, a white Toyota Hilux double cab, from the back while the latter was walking out of the convenience store towards the vehicle. The witness was speaking in a low voice then and he was wiping tears from his eyes as he continued to state that he went around the vehicle and shot Gamedze twice in the head while he was standing next to the car. From there, he said, he ran to their car and they took off towards Manzini.

Tears

At this point, the emotional Nkosi could not continue giving evidence and stood for a while with his hand covering his eyes with tears streaming down his face. He them slumped on the bench in the dock with a thud and the security personnel rushed to his aid. Advocate Michael Hellens, who represents the State, asked Nkosi if he would like some water and asked him to sit on the bench in the dock, but the witness did not respond. The advocate told Judge Maseko that Nkosi seemed to be overcome by emotions. This happened just before 12:30pm and the court took an early lunch break. When the proceedings resumed at 1:45pm, Nkosi was able to continue giving evidence for the rest of the day.

In his evidence-in-chief, Nkosi started by telling the court that on January 8, 2018, while in South Africa, he was called by Farouk Meyers, who told him that certain people from Eswatini were waiting to see him at his (Farouk’s) workshop in Eldorado Park, Soweto about a job. Farouk was an underworld kingpin and was murdered execution-style last year in South Africa. Nkosi informed the court that since it was January and he did not have a job, yet he needed money, he was excited and proceeded to the workshop where he allegedly found Shongwe and one Charlie, whom he later learnt was ‘Dzodzo’. Advocate Hellens asked Nkosi if he would be able to recognise Shongwe in the courtroom and the witness pointed him out in the accused dock.

Ill-treating

The witness said Shongwe told him that he had a job for him in Eswatini, which was different from what he was used to doing.  Nkosi informed the court that Shongwe told him that there was a man in Eswatini who was ill-treating him and that man allegedly blocked his routes to smuggle drugs in and out of the country. He alleged that Shongwe promised to pay him E80 000 for the job. According to Nkosi, Shongwe said he could kill the man himself but people in Eswatini would know that he was the one who did it. However, Nkosi said spilling blood was not what he did and he told Shongwe that he was not a hit man and would not do that job. He said he stood up and left, and before he reached the gate, he overheard Shongwe saying ‘he does not know who he is dealing with’. Nkosi submitted that he ignored that as he was unsure if Shongwe was referring to him or ‘Dzodzo’.

The following morning, according to Nkosi, he received a call from Shongwe who allegedly  threatened him. He alleged that Shongwe made it clear to him that since he had been informed about the job, he was the one who had to do it or else his family would suffer. He alleged Shongwe allegedly told him that he knew the school that was attended by his firstborn child and where he and his pregnant girlfriend resided. “I was scared,” said Nkosi. He said he tried to call Farouk to find out what was happening but he did not respond. Nkosi narrated that Shongwe called him again and told him that they should meet once more at Farouk’s workshop.

Reveal

Nkosi said he called his friend, ‘Tata’ Ngubane, but did not reveal to him that the job in question was about killing a man in Eswatini and that he had been threatened. He said he only told Ngubane that the job was about robbing a man who carried a lot of money in the boot of his car. According to Nkosi, Ngubane would not have agreed to come to Eswatini if he knew that he was hired to commit murder because they specialised in robberies. When asked why he had to come with Ngubane to Eswatini, he said he wanted him to be his ‘eyes’ just in case something happened to him while in the country. The witness also said after they met Shongwe and ‘Dzodzo’, the former allegedly gave him R10 000 which was in R20 notes to buy a stolen car. He said they proceeded to Eswatini with ‘Dzodzo’ after paying E6 500 for the stolen car. He said ‘Dzodzo’ and Ngubane entered the country through an informal entry point, while he entered through the border gate after Shongwe had allegedly arranged with officials there for him to cross without a passport and the stolen vehicle, a Toyota Yaris.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: