Johannesburg – One of the men accused of the rape and double murder in Rhodes Park took the stand at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on Monday, and maintained that he was assaulted and coerced by police to make a confession during his arrest.
The trial-within-a-trial was held to decide the admissibility of certain evidence in the case.
Thabo Nkala explained what happened on the day of his arrest on October 29, 2015.
“I was arrested by four police officers around 9pm in Yeoville. Two were black and the other two were white, they placed me at the back of a car with my face down while stepping on me. We went to a house in Yeoville and when we go there they told me I must confess to what I’ve done at Rhodes Park,” he said.
Nkala said he was confused and did not know what they were talking about and that was when he was assaulted and then given a paper with information to memorise.
“They put pepper spray in a piece of rubber and used it to cover my entire face and I couldn’t breathe, as a result I suffer from constant coughing,” he said.
The 25-year-old illegal immigrant from Zimbabwe said he has been in the county since 2007.
Nkala kept referring to JB and Howard as police officers who assisted Constable Lufuno Sono in assaulting him but claimed he does not remember the fourth one.
He also said he was taken to the same house again the next day and asked to rehash the information which was on the paper. He said the information was written in Zulu on an A4 paper and was one and a half pages long.
“When I got to the house, I found the same police officers, they asked me if I’m willing to do as they say or going to give them problems. Because I was scared, I repeated the information on the paper to show that I remember and they took it back. Afterwards we proceeded to Rhodes Park where I was told to point at certain areas,” he said.
He told the court that the investigating officer, Bruce Van der Schyff was also present on the second day of his alleged assault and was filming everything. He also said the police officer who took the statement did not read him his constitutional rights.
Nkala who was wearing a faded grey long sleeve shirt and caramel chino pants, maintained that the only information he gave police was his name and address, the rest of the information was a fabrication by police.
During cross examination, Prosecutor Mutuwa Nengovhela asked Nkala why he had never reported the assault to anyone.
“All the police officers spoke very harshly to me and I didn’t trust any of them,” he replied.
He asked the accused why there were no visible injuries on his body if he was really assaulted and why he never complained to his lawyer during his appearance at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court.
“I didn’t sustain any physical injuries but it was internal injuries and as a result I cough constantly. I complained to my lawyer but he didn’t notify the Magistrate and two days later I was given another lawyer who said I’ll use the information during my testimony,” he said.
Nkala told the court that as a result of the alleged assault he coughs constantly and takes medication now and again.
Nengovhela said it was surprising that the accused was given a one and a half page to memorise but the statement he gave to the police was four pages long.
Nkala blames the translating from Zulu to English as the cause of inconsistency.
The accused who previously had dreadlocks and went by the street name of Rasta said police gave him the name during his arrest.
Judge Papi Masopa asked him why he has removed his dreadlocks, he said he couldn’t maintain the hairstyle because of prison conditions.
The accused also claimed that he had never been to Rhodes Park until he was forcefully taken by police to rehearse the pointing of the crime scene.
Earlier, a police officer Moses Mbotho who was a branch commander at Cleveland police station at the time told the court that he had received a request from the investigating officer to make arrangements for Nkala and his two co-accused, Edmore Ndlovu, 25, and Lawrence Mathibela, 32, to make confessions.
“If there is an assault where the accused person is complaining about, it will be written on the OB [occurrence book] and it will be found by the station commander,” Mbotho said.
“I strongly disagree that the accused were assaulted. I stand by my word.”
Nkala, Ndlovu and Mathibela are allegedly part of a gang that forced the husbands into the lake where they drowned and sexually assaulted and raped their wives.
The matter was adjourned to tomorrow to allow Nkala to continue with his testimony.
African News Agency