Cape Town - Western Cape High Court Judge Patricia Goliath has given the State the go ahead to show the court video footage which allegedly captures acclaimed artist and murder accused Zwelethu Mthethwa kicking and beating sex worker Nokuphila Kumalo to death in 2013.
Defence advocate William Booth had requested a trial-within-a-trial to determine the authenticity and therefore admissibility of the CCTV footage. But he did not want the footage viewed during the trial-within-a-trial.
Earlier on Monday, Goliath told the court that in order to determine the authenticity of the footage “the court is obliged to view the footage.” She granted the request for a trial-within-a-trial.
She said “the question of authenticity involves various aspects including the veracity, reliability and accuracy of the footage”.
Goliath said the accused would not be prejudiced in any way should the CCTV footage be viewed by the court.
The State was expected to call Nathan Bearman back to the stand. He testified last week about CCTV cameras that his company had installed at two buildings in Ravenscraig Road in Woodstock where the murder took place.
Despite the rain, a small group of sex workers had gathered outside the Western Cape High Court. Huddled together, they clutched sodden placards that read “justice delayed is justice denied”. They said they were determined to protest at every one of Mthethwa’s court appearances and wanted justice for their friend and fellow sex worker, 23-year-old Kumalo.
ANA