Kimberley - Graphic details of the fateful day in March last year, when murder accused, Shadrack Boikanyo, allegedly stabbed his former girlfriend to death with an assegai, have emerged in the Northern Cape High Court.
Boikanyo is charged with killing the mother of his child, Lerato Olifant, on March 8 last year after she tried to run into a neighbour’s house to flee from the man she believed wanted to kill her.
Joyce Radebe, the 50-year-old daughter of Noel Radebe, took to the stand on Friday, where she told the court what she had witnessed that fatal Sunday morning.
“I was on my way to work when I heard people speaking outside. I heard a woman screaming loudly: ‘Help, help, he wants to kill me’.”
Radebe testified that Olifant ran into her house and, as she opened her bedroom door, she saw the victim running past. “This man (indicating to Boikanyo) pushed open my bedroom door and entered my room.”
“He opened and slammed my wardrobe doors, looking for the Olifant. I asked him what he wanted and he answered, ‘Take her out, she ran in here’.
“I asked him who he was referring to and he said ‘Shwadi’ (Olifant). I told him that I did not know who he was referring to and he left my room and went into the next one.
“I walked behind him and again asked who he was looking for. He told me to shut up and that he knew the person he was looking for was in the house. He was very angry.”
Radebe said the accused then went into the sitting room, where he found Olifant.
“He said to the deceased, What did I say to you, you do not listen”. She replied with, ‘No skattie’.”
According to the witness Boikanyo said: “For a long time I wanted to see what I have seen. Sies Shwadi, you’re a whore.”
The victim replied: “Skattie, skattie (darling), give me a chance to explain. It’s not what it looks like.”
“He lifted her hand and stabbed her two times with the sharp object in his right hand. As he stabbed her, something fell onto the ground - it looked like thick blood,” Radebe told the court.
“Olifant jumped...I got such a fright I started shaking. She tried to run away from this man but he chased her, throwing aside the chairs in his way. I slowly walked behind them and they went into my father’s room.
“After being alone with her in the room for a while he came out and was making a noise. He was shouting, I’m finished with her. ‘I’m done with you, Shwadi’.
“He seemed extremely proud of what he had done. I, my father and Gloria (a neighbour) begged him to leave and as he left the house, he looked in the direction of the house from where he had fetched Olifant. He pointed to the group of men standing there and said, ‘All of you, I’m coming back for you. I will kill all of you one by one’.”
“We went back into the house to see what had happened in my father’s room,” she said.
“The door wouldn’t open at first because Olifant’s foot was blocking the door. The moment I opened the door I saw blood on the walls and the floor. She was lying on the floor, on her stomach.
“I went to my room and called the police. They, however, were taking a long to time to arrive so I suggested to Gloria that we go outside and find assistance. God was so great on that day, he sent a police van from the other direction. We stopped the van and asked the police for help,” Radebe testified.
Dr Tebogo Kanaomang, who did the autopsy, said Olifant had died as a result of losing a huge amount of blood due to being stabbed multiple times with a sharp object.
“The deceased had three stab wounds in total, showing that her body was penetrated with a sharp object. A sharp object went through her upper arm, damaging both arteries. The deceased’s lungs also collapsed.”
Following questioning by state prosecutor, Kenny Kgatwe, Dr Kanaomang said a great amount of force had been used. “A sharp object was definitely used, because a blunt object would not be able to cause such severe injuries.
“Also, a blunt object would not have been able to transect arteries or penetrate so deeply to the extent that Olifant’s liver was damaged.”
The case will continue in October.
DFA