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‘TATA’ NOT PART OF PLOT TO KILL GAMEDZE - CROWN

27/04/2023 08:38:00 Kwanele Dlamini

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MBABANE – Simphiwe ‘Tata’ Ngubane was not part of the common purpose to kill Victor Gamedze but Mbuso ‘Ncaza’ Nkosi was rendered guilty of the murder.

This is according to the Crown in its submissions after Sipho Shongwe closed his case yesterday. Shongwe faces a murder charge for the murder of Gamedze, who was killed on January 14, 2018 at Ezulwini Galp Filling Station. Shongwe is alleged to have acted jointly in furtherance of a common purpose with Sandile ‘Dzodzo’ Zikalala, Nkosi and Ngubane, who were still at large at the time the indictment was composed. Advocate Hellens said although the indictment alleged that a common purpose existed among Shongwe, Zikalala and Nkosi, the evidence led showed that Ngubane was not entirely part of that common purpose.

The advocate said it was common and not in dispute that Gamedze was shot twice in the head on January 14, 2018, at Ezulwini Galp Filling Station and that he died in consequence of his injuries. The advocate also said it was not in dispute that Gamedze was shot by Nkosi. In shooting Gamedze twice in the head, according to the Crown, Nkosi intended to kill him and did so for no lawful reason, thus rendering him guilty of the crime of murder. The advocate said at the time of the alleged planning of, and giving effect to the murder of Gamedze, evidence showed that there was telephonic contact between Shongwe, Nkosi and Zikalala.

The advocate said it was inexplicable that Shongwe did not know Nkosi and/or, for that matter, Ngubane. “If the evidence shows that there was telephonic contact at the material time, or at all, between the accused (Shongwe) Ncaza and Dzodzo, then the accused’s denial of any contact with or involvement with the killer is an unsustainable denial. Indeed, it would be a false denial. A false denial in and of itself implicates the accused in guilt because if there were an innocent reason for otherwise unexplained and unexplainable contact between the accused and the killer, then that reason would have been forthcoming in his evidence. That which is clear is that the accused’s version is one of a denial of engaging Ncaza to effect the murder and of a complete denial of knowing Ncaza at all,” said Advocate Hellens.

The advocate stated that if one took two inexplicable facts and combined them, the Crown’s case that Shongwe engaged Nkosi to commit the murder was shown beyond any doubt whatsoever. He told the court that it was unlikely that the Crown would lead a witness who would falsely implicate Shongwe or two witnesses who falsely implicated the accused for no reason at all and with no motive at all. Secondly, said the advocate, the version of those witnesses, particularly of Ncaza, was underpinned and cross-corroborated by telephonic contact with him as evidenced by the MTN Eswatini series of exhibits and the evidence of former MTN Eswatini Chief Technical and Information Officer Thembi Mkhonto.

According to the advocate, it demonstrated that Nkosi had never been to Eswatini before the murder of Gamedze and he never intended to come to the country before. Advocate Hellens submitted that Nkosi, who shot Gamedze twice in the head, did not know him and had no quarrel with him ‘nor did any difficulty exist between him and Victor Gamedze’. “He shot Victor Gamedze twice in the head intending to kill him. Why would a person such as Ncaza murder a stranger, Victor Gamedze, for no reason whatsoever, except if he had been contracted to perform the act? The balance of the evidence of the Crown will show motive on the part of Sipho Shongwe to bring about the demise of Victor Gamedze.” Nkosi entered Eswatini on the evening of January 11, 2018. He was seen in the company of Zikalala and Ngubane at Spar Supermarket in Ezulwini on January 13, 2018, a day before the murder was committed.

The video evidence at the Galp Filling Station was established through a witness, Mandla Bheki Mkhatshwa, who was the eighth witness. He was the supervisor at the Galp Filling Station in Ezulwini. He said they had CCTV cameras at the filling station and that he had control over those systems and ability to show people footage. He said he was at the filling station on the day of the shooting. He further said police arrived after the incident had taken place and came back on the following day. The police, according to the witness, asked for permission to see the footage of the incident and he showed them the footage. On the following day, he said, they came with someone, an electrician who worked with CCTV cameras, to download the footage and they retrieved that information. Advocate Hellens appears for the crown alongside Principal Crown Counsel Macebo Nxumalo. Advocate Laurence Hodes appears for Shongwe together with Ben J Simelane and Lucky Howe. The matter will continue today.