Pietermaritzburg -The owner of security company Mapogo A Mathamaga ordered the killing of two “troublesome” men working on racehorse farms in KwaZulu-Natal, a confessed assassin told the High Court in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday.
Lucky Mlangeni, who is serving two life prison sentences for killing Simphiwe Trevor Ndlovu in June 2004 and Mandla Masango four months later, was testifying in the trial of Rudolf Struwig.
Struwig, 49, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Simphiwe Ndlovu and the attempted murder of his son Dennis.
Mlangeni alleged that Struwig, who was a manager at the Rustenburg branch of Mapogo securities, arranged the killings with two farm owners.
Mlangeni said he killed Ndlovu because it was rumoured he had murdered the previous owner of a Howick farm and it was suspected that the following owner would also be targeted.
He said he killed Masango after a farm owner claimed he was stealing from the farms and was illegally selling alcohol.
The farm owner claimed Masango ignored him when he fired him and told him to leave his premises.
Mlangeni told the court he owned a licensed firearm, but that Struwig hired an unlicensed firearm instead.
He told the court he and two colleagues drove from Ladysmith to Howick to kill Ndlovu, but could not find him.
They came back the following day and waited for Ndlovu. When he drove through the entrance of a farm, Mlangeni fired shots.
Dennis, who was driving, was wounded in the hand. His father died later in hospital.
Four months later, when Mlangeni tried to kill Masango, he apparently used his personal firearm by mistake, and left behind bullets and cartridges he said could be traced back to him.
Mlangeni told the court Masango crashed his car after the first few shots were fired.
While Masango was in his car screaming, Mlangeni walked up to him, aimed at his chest and fired six to eight shots, this time using a gun belonging to a man named Rasta.
Mlangeni told the court he then phoned Struwig and told him he had killed Masango.
Struwig told Mlangeni to find water and rinse off any gunshot residue in case they were arrested for the shooting.
Mlangeni told the court he and two others were given R5000 to share for killing Ndlovu. For killing Masango, he and Rasta were paid R5000 to share.
The trial continues. - Sapa