Durban - Two Kranskop policemen, charged with the assassination of a Johannesburg taxi boss, on Monday pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and murder charges.
Detective-Constables Thubelihle Nxumalo, 31, and Phakamani Zondi, 29, are on trial for the murder of Makhosonke Mpungose, who was kidnapped from his homestead in Ntabeni, near Dundee, on March 22, 2012. He was later shot dead.
According to the indictment before the Pietermaritzburg High Court, both policemen, who have since been suspended without pay, had been stationed at Kranskop.
Mpungose was a taxi owner who operated in Gauteng, but lived in Ntabeni.
Some time before the murder, a taxi dispute allegedly arose at the MTN taxi rank in Johannesburg. It was then allegedly decided by those taxi owners opposed to Mpungose, that he be killed.
Unknown members of the taxi association then allegedly sought the help of the two policemen to kill Mpungose.
The state alleges that a few days before the kidnapping and murder, on March 18, 2012, the two policemen went to Mpungose’s homestead to ascertain his movements and do reconnaissance.
On March 22 that year, they allegedly armed themselves with firearms other than their service pistols, and went back to Mpungose’s homestead, where they introduced themselves as members of the SAPS and instructed Mpungose to accompany them to Ladysmith for questioning related to an incident.
Mpungose was handcuffed and placed in the back of a police van.
The policemen then allegedly drove Mpungose towards Elandskraal, where he was taken out of the vehicle and shot multiple times on the side of the road. His body was left there and the policemen allegedly fled.
Prosecutor Sandra Senekal submitted in her opening address that the murder was premeditated and if found guilty, the policemen faced life in prison.
She also submitted that the state would rely on circumstantial evidence to convict the accused, and that cellphone records, as well as the vehicle tracker fitted onto the state vehicle being driven by the two policemen on the night of the murder, would place both policemen on the scene.
Addressing the court in his client’s defence, legal aid advocate Ishi Khan submitted that Nxumalo had an alibi for the night of the kidnapping and murder.
Nxumalo said that on March 22 he left the Kranskop police barracks at around 6pm to visit his girlfriend, Thabile Dladla, in Greytown.
He arrived at her home at around 7.30pm and remained there with her until 2am the next morning. He then returned to Kranskop for a field operation. Nxumalo maintains Mpungose was unknown to him and that he had no knowledge of the murder.
Zondi has elected to remain silent at this stage.
The trial continues.
Daily News