Johannesburg - What really happened to billionaire businessman Jeff Wiggill may never be known, after the employee alleged to have murdered him was acquitted on all charges on Wednesday.
In a case that appeared to mirror that of mining magnate Brett Kebble, Wiggill was found next to his luxury vehicle in the veld in Protea Glen, Soweto, in June 2013 with multiple gunshot wounds to his head.
Kebble planned his own murder to appear as a botched hijacking, during a period when his massive group of mining companies was under extreme financial pressure.
Wiggill’s own company - First Tech - trading as First Strut - was more than R1.3 billion in debt at the time of his killing, with the businessman known to have two big life insurance policies in place.
It seemed the State had a strong case against one of Wiggill’s employees, Thulani Cele, who the State alleged had been promised R100 000 by the businessman to assist in his suicide.
One of Cele’s acquaintances, Kwenzakufani Madondo testified that Cele had even told him about the suicide deal, while the State also provided cellphone evidence believed to link Cele to the crime.
But on Wednesday in the high court in Joburg, Judge Majake Mabesele was not convinced by the State’s case. It had argued that Cele had been in contact with Wiggill throughout the evening of the alleged staged hijacking, and had been in the businessman’s car and directed him to Soweto, before shooting him in the head.
Cele then called Madondo to pick him up.
But Cele’s version was that on that night, Wiggill had picked him up from his home in Richmond to attend a business meeting that was never elaborated on.
During the drive to Westonaria, Wiggill broke down and spoke of the company’s major financial problems, and stopped the vehicle to continue crying.
Cele claimed Wiggill asked him to get out of the car, and drove off, leaving him to call Madondo to pick him up.
While the State insisted that Cele’s version of events was highly improbable and submitted a list of discrepancies that emerged between the testimony and Cele’s initial statements, Judge Mabesele declared Cele’s version to be reasonably probable.
But the judge pointed out that Madondo’s initial statement describing the alleged confession differed from his testimony in court, and found him to be an unreliable witness.
While an MTN employee had testified that the cellphone number in contact with Wiggill on that night was registered in Cele’s name, Judge Mabesele also said this could not be confirmed due to a lack of written proof submitted to the court.
The judge said the State had relied almost exclusively on circumstantial evidence, and that there was no proof that Cele had been involved in the killing, nor that he had a firearm on him that day.
He added there was no way to prove that other members of the public hadn’t potentially been responsible for Wiggill’s death. Cele was thus acquitted on the murder charge and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
After the proceedings, Cele told the media he was happy with the outcome, and that he had maintained “from day one” that he was innocent.