Pretoria - An alleged confession said to have been made a month after the assassination of billionaire businessman Wandile Bozwana was read out to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, in which one of the accused claimed that Vusi Mathibela, also known as Mamelodi’s No 1 Tsotsi, paid him and his co-accused R60 000 “for the job”.
The so-called confession is a subject of much contention, as accused Sipho Hudla, claimed it is not the truth.
He vehemently denied that he made it out of his own will and according to him, he was assaulted into confessing something he never did.
The “confession” was earlier the subject of a lengthy trial-within-a trial, as the defence wanted to prevent the prosecution from using it as evidence.
Judge Mokhine Mosopa, however, at the end ruled that that is provisionally allowed to form part of the evidence.
Mathibela, Hudla and their two co-accused, Matamela Robert Mutapa and Bonginkosi Paul Khumalo, all earlier pleaded not guilty to Bozwana’s murder and the attempted murder of his business partner Mpho Baloyi.
According to the prosecution Bozwana and Baloyi were followed while they went to a shoe store inside the Sandton City mall as well as when they visited a hair and nail salon, where each had a manicure and pedicure.
It is claimed that they were then followed to a McDonald’s restaurant in Rivonia Road, as well as when they left and headed back to Pretoria on the N1.
Baloyi was driving the car at the time. Two armed gunmen came to their car as they stopped at a red traffic light at the Garsfontein offramp and fired several shots at them.
Baloyi, who was also wounded, managed to drive on and obtain help at a glass company in Menlyn.
Bozwana, however, shortly afterwards passed away.
In his “confession,” which was read out to the court by the SAPS officer who took it down, Hudla said he was at a taxi rank that day with his friends, when one of them said “Vusi” (no surname given in the statement) just phoned and wanted to meet them.
He said they drove to Sandton City, where they met Vusi at a hair salon. “Vusi pointed a man out to us inside and said he has a problem with that man and we must kill him,” the confession read.
It further stated that Vusi told them to follow the man, which they did. It is said in the “confession” that when Bozwana and Baloyi stopped at the McDonalds, they also stopped.
Hudla said one of his co-accused got out and came back with a bag, containing a pistol and an AK-47 rifle.
He said the rifle was handed to him and they proceeded to follow Bozwana on the N1, towards Pretoria.
At the Garsfontein offramp he and one of his co-accused got out of the car when it stopped at the traffic light.
“I went to the left hand side of the car and Senzo (one of his co-accused) went to the right side. I fired five shots at the man and Senzo fired through the driver’s side,” the statement read.
It is further stated that they then drove back to Alexandra, where they stopped at a petrol garage and met up with Vusi.
Vusi thanked us and gave us R60 000, which we shared.,the statement read.
Earlier yesterday a statement made regarding an alleged pointing out of the crime scene by Hudla, was also read out to the court.
Hudla also vehemently denied that he had made the pointing out and said this too, was the police’s doing. Proceeding
Pretoria News