The High Court sitting in Vryheid was told this week that taxi boss and Mahlabathini ANC branch leader, Sputla Mpungose, shot three people in retaliation for a charge of rape laid against him by one of the victims, then tried to cover his tracks.
A "friend" of Mpungose, Mandlenkosi Khoza - who allegedly was the only person who accompanied Mpungose on the night of the killings and was arrested with him, but later turned state witness - testified this week.
Khoza told the court Mpungose had sent him to the home of co-accused, Cyril Khumalo, to fetch a "parcel" on March 14 last year. Mpungose has been charged with three counts of murder and rape, while Khumalo - the former ANC branch leader in the Osuthu area near Nongoma - has been charged with possession of illegal firearms and ammunition.
Khoza said after fetching the "parcel" from Khumalo he discovered it was an AK-47 and took it to Mpungose.
He said he did not know what the parcel would be and hadn't asked. "I didn't know what he would use it for and that did not cross my mind," said Khoza.
He later met Mpungose and when he entered the minibus taxi they would travel in, he found another AK-47 inside.
They drove about 20-kilometres to Nongoma at "high speed, without saying a word". Khoza said he knew about the rape charge against Mpungose, but did not know the girl's identity, nor about Mpungose's attempts to get her to withdraw the charge.
"We only spoke for the first time when we got out of the taxi. We met behind the vehicle. I had both the firearms with me and he told me to follow him and I gave him the other AK-47.
"We crept through the fence of the homestead and walked quietly and slowly. Only then did I realise who the target was," said Khoza.
Khoza said he heard female voices inside the house and Mpungose cocked his firearm and pushed open the door. The three victims screamed and huddled in the corner.
Khoza, who is under witness protection, told the court when Mpungose fired, the AK-47 jammed. He then snatched the other firearm from Khoza and shot and killed the rape complainant, Philangani Mlambo, 14, her mother, Bulawelani Mnyaka, and an 11-year-old cousin, Sipho Gqivaza Ndawonde.
"My role was only standing at the door and giving him (Mpungose) the firearm. I was not involved in any planning at all. I didn't know what the mission was or who the target was until he knocked down the door," Khoza said during cross-examination by Mpungose's lawyer, Gareth Leppan, who is also defending Khumalo.
Mpungose's counsel, Gareth Leppan, said Khoza was lying about his "involvement".
Judge Nicholas van der Reyden also lambasted Khoza for saying he did not know about Mpungose's attempts to get Mlambo to withdraw the rape charge, about what the parcel was, or what it would be used for.
"You (Khoza) were not an innocent Joe here. You were let off the hook (when turned state witness) and are talking as if you were not involved . . . the perfect place for you is in that dock with the other accused," said Van der Reyden before questioning the state on how it could have struck a deal for him to become a state witness.
The judge questioned Khoza on how, "even after witnessing people die", he didn't ask Mpungose anything and was able to sleep at Mpungose's Ulundi flat.
Khoza said it was only after he was arrested that he had told the investigating officer about what really happened that night and that the four people originally arrested for the murders were not involved.
Leppan said Mpungose denied Khoza's version of events and maintained the case was a political campaign to stifle his involvement as ANC secretary in Mahlabathini after defecting from the IFP in April last year.
On Wednesday Mpungose's bodyguard, Siyabonga Zondi, testified that on the day of the murders, Mpungose had left his flat at about 6pm and that Khoza had left earlier, between 2pm and 3pm. He said Mpungose came back with Khoza at about 9pm.
Zondi said Mpungose had told him and another bodyguard, Phumlani Mkhize, to prepare for a trip to Durban.
"We left at about 9:30pm. We got to Durban at about 11:30pm. He (Mpungose) told us if anyone asked when we got to Durban we should say 4pm."
Zondi said he was contacted by Mpungose a few days later, when Zondi had been arrested and "he (Mpungose) said he wanted to talk to me about our arrests and statements."
The case continues on Monday.