Kimberley - Two men who tried to come to the rescue of a mother and her two sons, who were being brutally attacked by a man, were themselves attacked by the alleged culprit when they tried to apprehend him.
This was according to the testimony of Ohentse Stuurman, 21, and Samuel Moeng, who gave evidence in the Northern Cape High Court on Thursday.
According to the men, they too almost fell victim to the accused, Tefelo Dikole, when they chased him following the fatal attack on six-year-old Kutlwano Garesape.
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Kutlwano was brutally stabbed to death on August 12, 2016 while trying to defend his mother who was being attacked by a man who allegedly wanted to rape her.
Dikole is accused of the murder of Kutlwano and the attempted rape of the young boy’s mother, Segomotso Garesape.
Stuurman said that on the day of the incident they were busy loading tools that they needed for work when a young boy approached them and begged them to help his mother.
“The young boy, who was crying, said that his mother and others were being stabbed with a piece of glass. Mr Radebe, my employer, said that we must go with the child to see what was happening. We ran with the child and he directed us towards Proefplaas,” said Stuurman.
“On the way, we met the mother of the child. She dropped a bag that she was carrying before she also fell down on the ground.
“I ran to the side of the railway line and saw a person ahead of me. The person was in a slight bending position. It appeared as if he was holding a child. I shouted: ‘Hey, what are you doing?’”
Stuurman said that the man started to run away when he saw him coming towards him.
He said that they chased the man, initially on foot and later after Radebe picked them up in his vehicle. He added that as they drew level with the man, they jumped out of the car and continued to chase him on foot.
Stuurman said that as he got close to the accused, the latter threatened to kill him.
Tefelo Dikole and is accused of killing six-year-old Kutlwano Garesape. Picture: Soraya Crowie/ANA
“I was very close to catching up with the person who was running but he said he would kill me if I caught him. I stopped and the other men continued to chase him. I later also followed them and saw the accused entering a house in Proefplaas,” he said.
Stuurman said that the accused emerged from the house with a weapon as they were closing in on him.
“I was on the one side and the other men were on the other side. However, the accused came out of the house armed with an iron rod, which was sharpened at the end. He started chasing us.”
Sturman said that he shouted to the other two men to be aware that the accused was armed.
Moeng, during his testimony, said that the accused tried to stab him with the iron rod.
“The accused first chased after Ohentse but some community members went to his aid. The accused came towards me. He attempted to stab me with the iron rod but missed. He attempted a second time but missed again. Some community members came and I managed to get away. They asked what was happening and Ohentse told them that the accused had killed a child. They said we must take them to the scene,” said Moeng.
He added that the police arrived at the scene at the same time and that they saw that Kutlwano had died.
Dikole’s legal representative, Pierre Fourie, said that his client denied all the charges against him as well as being at the scene of the crime.
“The accused denies that you had chased him from where the deceased was up until his home. The accused also denies ever being at the scene where the child was killed. He said he did not kill the child,” said Fourie.
“According to the accused, he was at Proefplaas on the day collecting empty glass bottles. He said that while he was busy searching for bottles, he came across three men who told him that he was wanted at home. The accused said at that time members of the community arrived at the scene and wanted to assault him. According to the accused, bottles and other objects were thrown at him as he tried to get home. He took these bottles and objects and threw them back at the community members. He eventually managed to enter his house and that was when he was arrested by police,” added Fourie.
The trial continues.