Durban - The mother of metro police officer Phumlani Mbatha, who was killed in a hit-and-run crash, cried in the public gallery on Wednesday as a witness described how he saw a woman driving around with a body on the roof of her car.
Mbatha, 26, who had been off duty, died in hospital after he was struck by a vehicle on the evening of April 14, 2012, and was later found near Musgrave Centre.
Nolwazi Nzimande has been charged with Mbatha’s murder, defeating the ends of justice and contravening sections of the Road Traffic Act for failing to stop, failing to report the accident and for failing to assist the injured.
Her co-accused, US national John Solomon, who now lives in South Africa, has been charged with defeating the ends of justice and being an accessory to murder after the fact.
Solomon and Nzimande have pleaded not guilty.
On Wednesday, Jonathan Aschmann testified that he was travelling in a vehicle in Berea Road when he noticed a blue Polo with something on its roof.
“It appeared to be a body, but it was dark and I was not sure.”
When the car he was in stopped alongside the Polo at an intersection, he saw that it was the body of an African male on the roof.
“I could not really believe what I was seeing. The windscreen was dented and the man was hanging over the side of the car.”
He said the driver of the Polo was an African woman, who was talking on her cellphone.
Aschmann said he did not report the matter to the police at the time because he was in shock. He later responded to a Facebook post in which a metro police officer had posted details of the incident.
“I sent the officer a message and asked if I could help because I had seen it.”
He said during cross-examination that he had not taken down the number plate of the blue Polo and could not describe the driver of the vehicle.
He said there had been no passengers in the car.
The trial continues.
The Mercury