Three men will again appear in the high court sitting in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on Friday, in connection with the double murder and rape at Rhodes Park.
Thabo Nkala, 25, Edmore Ndlovu, 23, Mduduzi Lawrence Mathibela, 32, were allegedly part of a gang that forced two husbands into the lake where they drowned and sexually assaulted and raped their wives. They face two counts of murder, two counts of rape, and robbery.
On Thursday, the court heard that police assaulted and coerced Nkala into making a confession.
Lawyer Thulasizwe Mpanza, for Nkala, said on the night of his client’s arrest, police assaulted him and told him what to say when making a statement regarding the crime in Rhodes Park. He said police forced Nkala to point out the scene where the incident had occurred.
Mpanza said that everything written on the statement was “fabricated” by police. He suggested that the statement should not to be used as part of the evidence in court.
Prosecutor Monde Mbaqa called in police officers to testify that the 25-year-old was not beaten or forced to make his statement.
Leuitant Colonel Bhuti Duma, who took Nkala to Rhodes Park to point out the scene where the murder and rape took place, read out the questions and answers which were conducted before they went to the park.
In all the questions pertaining assault and intimidation, Nkala had responded by saying he was giving information out of his free will.
Shohen Rana who owns a cellphone shop in Yeoville told the court that he bought a Nokia Lumnia for R320 from the assailants and they also offered to sell him a ring and a gun which he declined.
Rana failed to identity the accused men in the dock. But he told the court that he knew one of the men who came to his shop that night.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
