Police officers Mayendran Chetty and Vincent Phelago are facing four counts of murder. They have since claimed that the case is fabricated.
Image: Tumi Pakkies / Independent Newspapers
In a dramatic turn, a former Umkomaas police officer, Mayendran Chetty, currently on trial for the murders of four men in 2022, claimed the victims' families intentionally obstructed justice.
Chetty, who is charged alongside former SAPS sergeant Vincent Phelago, argued that the families’ failure to disclose his and Phelago's identities to police at the crime scenes proved they did not want justice.
Chetty and Phelago face a raft of charges, including the murders of Nhlonipho Nzimande, eThekwini ANC councillor Mnqobi Molefe, Pilayelo Sydney Buthelezi, and Mqapheli Victor Cele.
During cross-examination by State prosecutor advocate Nhlanhla Shange on Wednesday, Chetty maintained that the State’s case, which he called fabricated, was a malicious effort by the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) to target him and Phelago.
Shange highlighted the consistent testimony of all State witnesses, who recounted that the assailants identified themselves as police officers. In the murders of Cele, Buthelezi, and Nzimande, the victims were instructed to kneel and face a specific direction before being shot.
A single, common firearm was reportedly used in all three incidents. Furthermore, Shange said it was common cause that the police officers who responded to the scenes were from Umkomaas police station, where the duo worked.
“You were expecting these witnesses to disclose the identity of the perpetrators to the police who work with the perpetrators?” Shange challenged.
Chetty replied by saying the witnesses were supposed to disclose the identity of the perpetrators to the police who attended the scene.
“I would say who killed my family. They had other stations to report the matter to if they wanted justice. But they had to wait for the PKTT with fabrications,” he said, looking at Phelago, who nodded back to him.
Chetty said if the families of his victims wanted justice, they were going to tell his colleagues who attended the crime scenes that the shooters were him and Phelago instead of just saying it was the police.
Moreover, he said it was not uncommon for criminals to call themselves police whenever they were committing crimes.
“Can you dispute the submission that the police who committed the offence from Nzimande, Cele, and Buthelezi are the same people?” Shange asked.
Chetty claimed he was not the right person to answer.
Shange pressed Chetty on the strength of the prosecution’s case, noting that Chetty had not challenged the evidence of witnesses who identified him at the crime scenes.
Chetty's only defence, Shange stated, was the claim that the PKTT fabricated the case and schooled the witnesses on what to say, a claim Chetty insisted was the task team's modus operandi.
The court previously heard testimony from a State witness, currently in witness protection, who confirmed withholding information that the perpetrators of Buthelezi’s murder were police, one of whom she saw in a police reflector jacket.
She explained that the sight had shattered her trust in the South African Police Service (SAPS).
“I was waiting for the time when I would come to the court because I know that I am safe here. If I had spoken up on that day, I would not be alive today.”
The trial continues.
nomonde.zondi@inl.co.za