Durban — The Durban High Court has found that the version provided by a taxi driver, on trial for the murder and rape of a 17-year-old, was reasonably improbable and rejected it in convicting him of the offences committed in 2020.

Judge Bruce Bedderson found Samkelo Victus Dube guilty of killing and raping Sibahle Faith Biyela and brutally assaulting his neighbour Thandiwe Shange.

On the evening of Sunday, October 4, 2020, Sibahle, Shange, and Dube were socialising together at Dube’s residence, where he allegedly had made repeated sexual advances towards Sibahle, who rejected these.

It is alleged that Sibahle and Shange left Dube’s place just after midnight, and as they were walking home, the accused ran up to them, accusing Sibahle of having stolen his cellphone.

An argument ensued between Dube and Shange, and he stabbed her in the forehead with a screwdriver.

During the trial, Dube, 33, testified he had covered Sibahle’s body with the blanket he had been sleeping with, and that he knew her as they were in high school at the same time.

“The accused wanted the court to believe that when he woke up and found a person dead in his room and thereafter casually got dressed and went to work, that it was normal.

“It does not make sense. He contends he suffered from amnesia from the time he began drinking to when he woke up. If this is so, why did he immediately cover the deceased when he woke up, and he did not even check if she was alive or not? The only inference one can draw is that he already knew she was dead,” Judge Bedderson said in his judgment.

During the trial, Ntombi Ngidi, who pulled Dube off Shange during the attack, testified that she saw Dube running in the direction thatSibahle had fled in.

“Shange has a history of drinking and socialising with the accused, and she would be in the best position to ascertain if he was pretending to be drunk or not that day. Her evidence that Dube chased after Sibahle after the attack on her was thwarted was further corroborated by Ngidi,” said Judge Bedderson.

He said both Shange and Ngidi were good witnesses, adding that they had no reason to implicate the accused in these crimes.

Dube’s version was that after leaving Sibahle dead in his house that morning, he was robbed and the taxi he was driving was hijacked, and that he was held captive for two days.

“This version in my view is nothing more than a fabrication; he did not lead any evidence to support this version. There’s no onus on him to prove his innocence, but if one looks at the facts, his version is false beyond a reasonable doubt,” the judge said.

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