Cape Town - Two men have appeared in the Western Cape High Court on charges of murder and robbery for allegedly killing an e-hailing driver near Old Crossroads.
Jongikhaya Rawutini, 22, and Anele Moshesh, 21, have been charged with two counts of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
The State alleged that the two killed Joseph Ajuonu, 54, on August 7, 2019, by throwing a brick at him.
It is alleged that on that day, the two were standing on the street in Old Crossroads with some friends when they orchestrated the attack.
They arranged for a taxi driver under the pretext of wanting to book a lift. After booking a ride with the victim, he arrived in his car, where they robbed him of his items.
Fearing for his life, the victim attempted to flee, but they chased him and later killed him with a brick.
The two allegedly assaulted Ajuonu and stole his car, mobile phones, and a wallet containing cash and bank cards.
It is the State’s case that Ajuonu was killed as a result of the robbery.
According to the State, the murder was premeditated and the brick was thrown with intent to murder the victim. A post-mortem examination confirmed that the cause of death was blunt force head injury.
A State witness on Thursday testified that he was with the accused when the robbery took place. He said that he had been instructed by Rawutini to book the driver on a mobile app. He further said that they were a group of five who assaulted Ajuonu when he arrived.
He identified Rawutini as the person who took the car after it was stolen. He chased Ajuonu with the car while the others chased him on foot. He said the victim ran into a house, but came back. Moshesh picked up a brick and threw it at him.
As Ajuonu wanted to duck, the brick hit his head.
Advocate Dail Andrews appeared on behalf of the State while Ruwutini is represented by Nobahle Mkabayi and Moshesh is represented by Michael Sibueng.
rafieka.williams@inl.co.za