Durban — The second man who is accused of pulling the trigger and fatally wounding a taxi owner Dustin Pillay of the Dolphin Coast Taxi Association based in Shakaskraal says the witnesses who had came to testify in court plotted and implicated him and his co-accused in crimes that they did not commit.
An angry second accused, Thokozani Mthethwa, told the Durban High Court on Thursday that he was never at Shakaskraal on September 23, 2019, the day Pillay was killed.
He said he did not know all the witnesses who had claimed to know him very well and even hung out with him. However, he admitted to knowing the witness who had told the court that Pillay gave Mthethwa and his co-accused Cebo Xulu R2 500 every week to try calm a situation.
He said the other witnesses were using this witness whom he said he knew to implicate him and his co-accused in this matter.
He said the man (a certain Mhlongo who cannot be named for safety reasons) who had advised the witnesses to go and make statements to the provincial taxi violence unit as they did not trust an initial investigating officer in this matter who conspired with these witnesses.
During the trial the court has learnt that the deceased, accused Mfanufikile Dlamini, had a fight with Mhlongo in which they exchanged horrible words and even swore at one another. Mthethwa told the court that he and Xulu got involved in this dispute between Dlamini and Mhlongo as peacemakers. However, Mhlongo said he was not interested in what they had to say.
“He told us that we are getting used to him in a bad way,” said Mthethwa.
Moreover, the senior State prosecutor advocate, Elvis Gcweka, said the person that Mhlongo was in conflict with was Dlamini, yet in this “plot" he was given a small role of driving a getaway car. “They give you and Xulu bigger roles. They say you are the one who pulled the trigger,” said Gcweka.
Mthethwa answered by saying he was not there when Mhlongo and the witnesses decided on which roles to give him and his friends when they conspired to implicate them in a crime they never committed.
Furthermore, Gcweka put it to the accused that he will argue at a later stage that he could not provide evidence to the court as to where he was on this day. “Now the State witnesses, all three of them in corroboration, and are placing you in Shakaskraal. Their evidence says you are the one who shot the deceased and killed him. The last breath of the deceased was caused by you. You killed Pillay,” he said.
Judge ME Nkosi asked Mthethwa if he and Mhlongo knew each other but Mthethwa said they met for the first time for a short while the day Mhlongo came with police and security to Dlamini’s home. He said he was not sure if Mhlongo knew him.
“The reason I am asking is because it seems that the interaction between you and Mhlongo was so minimal. What is surprising to the court is if he did not know you why would he implicate you in such a serious offence and place you in the forefront of the offence,” said Judge Nkosi.
Mthethwa replied by saying he was also puzzled. Xulu and Mthethwa are facing 18 charges which include eight counts of attempted murder and murder of Pillay. They are both in custody and were arrested in January 2020.
WhatsApp your views on this story at 071 485 7995.
Daily News