Durban - A judge has expressed concern over the evidence of a policeman testifying in the trial of a woman charged with murdering two boys.
Warrant Officer Erugubathie Naidoo, who arrested murder accused Liziwe Ngwayishe, testified in a trial-
within-a-trial in the Durban High Court to establish the admissibility of evidence that Ngwayishe had pointed out where the boys’ bodies were found.
Ngwayishe is standing trial for her role in the murders of Luyanda Msomi and Njabulo Mankayi in November 2017. During yesterday’s testimony, Naidoo detailed events leading up to Ngwayishe’s arrest.
He said he saw Ngwayishe emerging from bushes near a canal with a Colonel Ngubane and Captain Mike van der Looy. He said he arrested her and took her to the Montclair police station for her safety, and read her her rights.
Defence advocate Bo Dlamini questioned whether Naidoo had arrested Ngwayishe at the canal and not somewhere else, but the policeman insisted it was near the canal near Solomon Mahlangu (Edwin Swales VC) Drive.
Dlamini pointed out that Naidoo’s statement said he had made the arrest while he and an informant were
driving past, and he saw Ngwayishe.
Naidoo said this was an error in his statement.
Judge Johan Ploos van Amstel expressed unhappiness with the mistakes Naidoo made. “This is one of the most serious murder cases I have come across,” he said.
The Daily News previously reported that Ngwayishe and Amahle Maliwa killed Luyanda and Njabulo, the son of Maliwa’s ex-boyfriend, in 2017.
It is alleged that the women murdered the children after Maliwa was dumped by Thandaza Mankayi.