'Axe man' trial resumes
The trial of former Blue Bulls' rugby player Phindile Joseph Ntshongwana, who is accused of killing four people with an axe, resumes in the Durban High Court on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the court heard that Ntshongwana had stopped being violent and aggressive after receiving medical treatment.
"His outward behaviour looks apparently normal, but he's a sick man. He's mentally ill. He's not well. He's sick," psychologist, Prof Abubuker Gangat said under cross examination.
Ntshongwana suffered from "persecutorial delusions", which could only be controlled with treatment, Gangat said.
He told the court that Ntshongwana was not violent in prison because he was receiving treatment.
Ntshongwana is charged with murdering Thembelenkosini Cebekhulu in Montclair on March 20, 2011, Paulos Hlongwa two days later, Simon Ngidi the following day, and an unidentified man sometime that week.
All were hacked to death with an axe.
He is also accused of kidnapping and raping a woman on November 28, 2010, and of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
He faces two further charges of attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
The woman, who cannot be named, was kidnapped in central Durban and held captive for three days.
-Sapa