Home | News | NTUTHUKO SAID HE HAD DONE GREAT JOB - STATION COMMANDER

NTUTHUKO SAID HE HAD DONE GREAT JOB - STATION COMMANDER

14/09/2022 10:25:00 Kwanele Dlamini

Font size:

MBABANE – Ntuthuko Dlamini allegedly told the Bhunya Police Station commander that he had done a great job after the shooting of three men at Mhlabubovu in 2020.

This is according to Inspector Mazwi Mngomezulu, who was the Bhunya Police Station Commander at the time of the shooting of three men at Mhlabubovu, allegedly by the former Minister of Public Works and Transport, Ntuthuko, on September 7, 2020. He was giving evidence during Ntuthuko’s trial for the murder of Sikhulu Shongwe, Simon Dlamini and Andreas Tsabedze. Mngomezulu, who is now the Station Operations Officer at Mafutseni Police Station, informed the court that on the day of the shooting, he was running personal errands in Matsapha and he received a call from Ntuthuko, who informed him that there were people from Luyengweni who were allocating land at Mhlabubovu.

Firearm

According to Mngomezulu, Ntuthuko, who is facing three counts of murder and one of unlawful possession of a firearm, requested him to dispatch police officers to chase those people away. He was referring to the Luyengweni Umphakatsi Inner Council and elders, who were in the company of Indvuna Yemcuba Dumisa Ginindza. They were at Mhlabubovu to officially hand over a piece of land to one Mbongiseni Dlamini. In his evidence-in-chief, Mngomezulu said he advised Ntuthuko to wait while he called Bhunya police to go and see what was happening at Mhlabubovu. He said he was aware that there was a dispute between the two chiefdoms over who had authority over Mhlabubovu. Mngomezulu said after about five minutes, Ntuthuko called him again and said he should hurry because there would be chaos if the police delayed.

“I told the accused when he called for the second time that he should be patient because the police were on their way. I was on my way too. After sometime, he called yet again and said there was commotion and the people had assaulted each other and others were lying on the ground. I asked what had happened and he said sebashayene ngetagila, nalabanye sebafile (the people had attacked each other with knobkerries and others had died). He told me that he was running away because they almost hit him as well,” said Mngomezulu. He also told the court that the call was terminated and he assumed that Ntuthuko was running away as a result of the chaos. Mngomezulu said when he arrived at Mhlabubovu, he found two men lying on the ground and Ntuthuko was no longer there.

Gunshot

According to Mngomezulu, he was informed that the accused person had left with three men. He submitted that he looked at the people on the ground and noticed that they had gunshot wounds. He said he spoke to Indvuna Ginindza and he allegedly informed him that Ntuthuko had shot them and a third man had been rushed to Mankayane Government Hospital. Around the same time, Mngomezulu said he received a call from Bhunya Police Station, informing him that Ntuthuko was at the police station with three men. He said the police told him that Ntuthuko brought two firearms and he put them on the counter at the police station. Since investigators had arrived at the scene at Mhlabubovu, Mngomezulu said he left for the police station and found the accused person and took him to his office.

Mngomezulu told the court that Ntuthuko admitted to have killed the men at Mhlabubovu because bayedzelela (they were being disrespectful). Mngomezulu said he advised the former minister that he had done something wrong, but to him it seemed like he had done a great job. The former station commander told the court that Ntuthuko took out his cellphone and showed him what he had done at Mhlabubovu. Principal Crown Counsel Ncamsile Masuku enquired as to what made Mngomezulu think that it seemed to Ntuthuko that he had done a great job? Mngomezulu informed the court that Ntuthuko said he (Mngomezulu) should thank him for what he had done and that he had helped them by what he had done. “He said I should thank him because of what he had done; that he had done a great job,” said Mngomezulu.

Ntuthuko’s attorney, Noncedo Ndlangamandla, objected to the evidence. Ndlangamandla said Mngomezulu, according to the law, was not supposed to disclose in court what the accused person told him. She said Mngomezulu was part of the investigation. The Principal Crown Counsel, Masuku, said Mngomezulu had told the court that he left investigators at the scene when he went to Ntuthuko, who was already at the police station. Masuku said when Ntuthuko called Mngomezulu, before the shooting, he was not reporting a case.

Authority

Judge Maxine Langwenya said as a police officer, Mngomezulu was the authority and when the police spoke to a suspect, certain considerations came into play. Ideally, according to the judge, the police are not supposed to tell the court what an accused person told them, regardless of whether the officer is the investigator. Judge Langwenya proceeded to expunge that piece of evidence from the record. When asked about his relationship with Ntuthuko, Mngomezulu said in the four years he spent at Bhunya Police Station, he got along well with the accused person. “He was close to me and I was close to him,” Mngomezulu said. He also told the court that after their conversation in his office, he advised Ntuthuko to look for a lawyer because a crime had been committed. He said Ntuthuko asked him (Mngomezulu) to assist him in getting a lawyer. Judge Langwenya told the witness that he should answer without telling the court what the accused person told him.

Confiscate

During cross-examination, Mngomezulu said he did not confiscate Ntuthuko’s cellphone. He agreed that he ordered the detention of the accused person for further investigation. However, he told the court that he could not show what Ntuthuko showed him on his cellphone regarding what happened at Mhlabubovu. Mngomezulu said he was aware of the dispute over boundaries between Luyengweni and LaMgabhi. He stated that he heard about a Liqoqo ruling regarding the dispute. According to Mngomezulu, after the incident, they were called to Ludzidzini where Chief Lembelele of Luyengweni was asked if he recalled the King’s ruling on the dispute. When asked what Chief Lembelele said, Judge Langwenya said that line of questioning became hearsay.