Kimberley – The body of Kerileng Mavis Nyathi Nqozi was discovered in a shallow grave, “folded” to fit into a carry bag, the Northern Cape High Court heard on Wednesday
The gruesome discovery was made by a member of the SAPS, who spotted a carpet laid out in the veld which appeared out of place to him.
The murder trial of Soul City resident Mzwandile Nqozi, 39, continued before Acting Judge Janine Snyders in the Northern Cape High Court on Wednesday, with the court hearing how the deceased’s remains were eventually uncovered more than a week after she was reported missing by her husband, the accused.
In April last year, police captain Sylvester “Doggie” Magugu was requested to assist in the community’s mass search for the deceased, and he discovered the shallow grave after his instincts lead him to a carpet that was neatly laid out in the veld.
During his testimony on Wednesday, Magugu recalled visiting the victim’s home on April 26 last year to interview her husband regarding her disappearance, before Nqozi was officially suspected of any wrongdoing.
Magugu noted that the accused’s account of events during this interview included several inconsistencies, while the community’s suspicions of his involvement in his wife’s disappearance had forced him to move out of the neighbourhood.
“While he was explaining that his wife was in Johannesburg, he changed his story,” Magugu told the court on Wednesday morning. “He indicated that on the night that his wife disappeared, they had a fight before she left. After hearing this, I told him we could do a forensic investigation of the house.”
Magugu and forensic investigators returned to the house in Soul City the following evening, when it was dark enough for blood stains to be visible under a special light.
Through this process, the team found suspicious stains on a sheet as well as a cloth that was behind the toilet.
Two days later (April 29), Magugu met with residents to embark on a thorough search of the area, at the request of local ward councillor Moses Nhlapo.
However, prior to meeting at the assembly point, Magugu and Nhlapo decided to drive around to scout the area due to be searched, when a carpet, which appeared to be in good condition and out of place at a communal dumping site, caught the captain’s attention.
“I drove to a piece of veld where the community leave their stuff,” recalled Magugu. “As I was exiting towards Nobengula Street, I noticed a neatly laid out carpet in the veld and wondered why it had been placed so carefully.
“I put on my gloves to remove the carpet and underneath, one could see that the topsoil had been turned. I prodded at the soil with a stick. It was soft but the ground around it was hard. There was also a faint, rotten smell.”
At this point, Magugu and Nhlapo left the scene to meet with the residents. After Magugu had explained the procedure and told the community to report any suspicious finds to an officer immediately, the group formed a human chain and began scouring the area for any evidence of the missing person.
“We moved to the veld where I had found the carpet and I stopped at that particular spot,” Magugu said. “I borrowed a spade from a nearby house and started digging in the soft soil. The deeper I dug, the stronger the smell got.
“By the time the flies were gathering, I could feel I was hitting something in the ground and I carefully removed the soil with my hands.”
After digging about a metre down, Magugu uncovered a large carry bag, which he described as multi-coloured but mostly green, like the ones used by vendors to carry their goods.
“While I was digging with my hands, the bag burst open and I could see brains.”
After the bag was completely excavated, it was established that it did in deed contain human remains.
“Inside was the body of a female person that had been nicely folded to fit into the bag. The knees were bent to the shoulders. The feet were pressed back with the heels touching the bum and the hands were tucked in under the knees. Shoes were also tucked into the bag.”
While Magugu rubbished the claims of the accused, during cross-examination, Nqozi’s legal representative, Advocate Pierre Fourie, said that his client denied ever saying that he knew anything about his wife’s whereabouts.
Fourie added that the accused further claimed to have been assaulted by Magugu and another officer prior to the discovery of the Nyathi’s body.
“The accused says he never told you that his wife went to Johannesburg,” Fourie told the court. “He says that he told you he did not know where she was and he did not know whether she went to Johannesburg.
“He says that after the investigations on April 27, you and another officer took him to Witdam police station where the two of you assaulted him.
“My instruction is that you insisted that he knew something and that he had to tell you where his wife was.
“From Witdam he was taken to a veld where you put him in a thorn bush, still insisting to know the whereabouts of the deceased.”
Magugu emphasised that it was instinct and experience that had made him suspicious about the site of the grave, adding that apart from Nhlapo, he had not discussed the matter with anyone from the community.
The defence, however, claimed that the scene of the crime almost appeared as if someone wanted the body to be found.
“If I wanted to hide something, I would not leave it under a neatly laid out carpet in a veld,” Fourie said. “It would appear to me that someone wanted the body to be found.”
The case will continue on Thursday morning.