VUYO MKIZE
A SOWETO man accused of rape and murder has claimed he was assaulted, threatened and coerced into making a confession.
Jacob Mkhwevu, 39, made this claim in the Johannesburg High Court yesterday, during a trial within a trial. He is accused of raping Nobuhle Zungu, tying her hands and feet, feeding her poison and strangling her at his co-accused Ntombifuthi Ntombela’s shack in Doornkop on August 11.
He said he was assaulted by Ntombela’s boyfriend in front of an officer, who did nothing about the attack, and that statements he made thereafter were made under duress.
Mkhwevu told the court in a barely audible, husky voice: “It was mid-September (last year) (that) police came to my house at night and took me to Dobsonville police station.
“The morning after the arrest, a police officer came to my cell and told me he was the officer handling the case. He asked me to go to his office with him. On the way to the office, I heard him make a call to Siphiwe Khanyile, Ntombela’s boyfriend. He told him he was now taking their statements.”
Mkhwevu said Ntombela and her boyfriend were already in the charge office.
“The officer asked me if I knew what I was accused of. I said ‘no’. He said I was accused of the murder of Zungu. He opened a docket and showed me pictures,” he continued.
The first picture showed Zungu with her hands and feet tied, her face covered and condoms next to her legs.
The second showed her dressed, but still with her hands and feet tied.
“He asked me if I knew anything about the condoms. I said ‘no’. He then asked me to explain what happened. After I explained, he said to me: ‘That statement won’t work in court.’
“Then Ntombela’s boyfriend hit my head with a cooldrink bottle and said his woman would never kill anyone,” Mkhwevu said.
Ntombela’s boyfriend allegedly told the officer Mkhwevu had killed Zungu.
He stated: “The officer said I must tell the truth. At that point, I developed a headache. He (the officer) took me back to the cells. He came back to the cells later that night and sat me down on a table and said I should give the real statement.
“I held my head because I had a headache. He told me to tell the truth, but I was confused. I gave him the wrong statement.”
Mkhwevu said he made a statement at the police station the following day, September 18, with Captain Boet Ewert Duma, who asked him if he could take him to where the murder had taken place.
“On our way to the crime scene, Duma told me there were condoms found there and I was the only man in the shack with these two women at that time. I told him I had a headache and could not talk to him,” he added.
During cross-examination by the State, Mkhwevu admitted the assault had had nothing to do with Duma and it taken place the day before he had met Duma and made his confession.
“So, on the day you pointed out the place of the murder, you did so out of your own will?” asked State prosecutor Lwazi Ngodwana. “Yes,” Mkhwevu answered.
Duma, who also testified yesterday, denied Mkhwevu’s claim.
He said Mkhwevu had given his statement on September 18, the day after the assault, that he had raped Zungu.
“He said he used two condoms, which broke. He said after the rape, Ntombela tied the woman up and put a plastic bag over the woman.
“He said his role was to hold down the woman. Before the plastic was put over her, Ntombela made muti for her to drink and she was then strangled,” Duma said.
Judge Emmerson Monama ruled that Mkhwevu had made the confession to Duma of his own free will and without any coercion.
The rape and murder trial continues.