Lawyers for the two men accused of murdering UCT student Dominic Giddy have argued that the mere possession of his cellphone and SIM card did not mean the accused killed him.
Advocate Andre Pienaar and attorney Likhaya Makana, representing Zukisani Songwaku and Simphiwe Ngoma respectively, called for their acquittal in the Cape Town Regional Court on Tuesday.
Giddy, 22, was killed on February 13, 2010, when he and two friends, Daniel Martin, 23, and Pieter Slabbert, 22, were accosted by three knife-wielding men while walking to Giddy’s Observatory home.
Giddy was stabbed to death.
Songwaku, Ngoma and a third man, Bongani Matano, 27, were charged and held in custody for about two years.
Two weeks ago, magistrate Jan van Zyl discharged Matano, finding insufficient evidence against him.
On Tuesday, Songwaku and Ngoma’s lawyers delivered closing arguments.
Pienaar said the circumstantial evidence was not enough to ensure a guilty verdict as all other inferences about what may have happened that night were not ruled out.
He said Giddy’s cellphone could have disappeared anywhere and could have been used by anyone.
Makana argued that the State did not prove beyond reasonable doubt that Ngoma was guilty of murder.
“The State called various witnesses. It is a fact that there is no direct evidence linking (Ngoma) to the charges,” Makana said.
He argued further that Ngoma had an alibi – he had been at home with his girlfriend on the night of the murder. When the prosecution called Ngoma’s girlfriend to testify, she confirmed that he had been with her.
But prosecutor Nopelo Nhantsi argued that Ngoma’s cellphone records showed he had called his girlfriend on the night of the murder, proving that they had, in fact, not been together.
Makana countered, saying that Ngoma’s cellphone records show that the call was made in Langa, where he lived.
“There are various possibilities in this matter. (Nine) people lived in (Ngoma’s) house. (Ngoma) said his cellphone was not with him all the time. It was charging,” he said.
But Nhantsi argued that the men should be convicted because just 15 minutes after the murder the men called their girlfriends and Giddy’s SIM card was placed into Ngoma’s phone.
Judgment is due on Thursday.
Cape Argus