Cape Town - Implicated as the mastermind behind the murder of a police constable, Theresa Mabaso has walked free after inconsistent witness testimony was rejected by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).
Mabaso was acquitted of murder last week after being sentenced to life imprisonment by the high court in Mpumalanga in 2018 for the November 2013 murder of police constable Sifiso Mabuza.
The matter dates back to 2013 when three men armed with a firearm and ammunition broke into Mabuza’s house while he was sleeping.
Two of the suspects entered through a window while the third kept watch outside.
After a physical altercation with Mabuza, he was shot in the chest, and the suspects then robbed him of his official SAPS issued firearm.
Mabaso’s co-accused, Wiseman Ngomane, was indicted with Sindi Mvubu and Victor Sibiya.
Sibiya died before the start of the trial, while Mvubu was convicted in June 2016 and sentenced to an effective 18 years imprisonment following a guilty plea and a statement in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act.
In his plea he implicated Mabaso, saying she summoned him and Ngomane to her house, asking them to kill Mabuza as he arrested her and confiscated her drugs and vehicle.
He said Mabaso gave him a deposit of R10 000 to execute the killing and promised to give him a further R16 000 when the officer was killed.
Later on, after having been sentenced and agreeing to testify as a State witness in the subsequent trial of Mabaso and Ngomane, Mvubu gave a further statement saying Mabaso had in fact phoned him and said that she wanted him to kill the officer.
He said he then met Mabaso who explained to him that she was prepared to pay him R46 000, inclusive of a deposit of R10 000.
The SCA then further noted that Mvubu had also made another statement under oath just days after the murder in November 2013, alleging that Mabaso offered him R60 000 if he killed Mabuza.
When Mvubu testified, he denied that he pleaded guilty previously.
Mabaso denied ever instructing or hiring Mvubu or anybody to carry out the murder.
Mvubu was declared a hostile witness by the high court, and during Mabaso’s appeal, the SCA found that the high court misdirected itself by failing to recognise that Mvubu’s initial statement to police was admissible to discredit him, not to be used as evidence against Mabaso.
“The contradictions in all three statements made by Mr Mvubu and his testimony, which are obviously material, should have alerted the high court to be on its guard and find Mr Mvubu to be an untrustworthy witness.
“Being a single witness, the high court ought to have found Mr Mvubu’s evidence to be unsatisfactory…
“The only other evidence that implicated (Mabaso) was the confession by Mr Ngomane in which Mr Ngomane stated that he was recruited by Mr Mvubu to partake in the killing of the deceased.
“Other than being clearly inadmissible in terms of s 119 of the CPA, and on the basis of the case authority referred to earlier, this was hearsay evidence not corroborated by any other evidence,” the SCA found.
Cape Times