Defence questions non-arrest of ‘paymaster’ in AKA murder case
The non-arrest of businessman Mfundo Gcaba came under scrutiny in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Advocate Paul Jorgensen, representing accused number four in the Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes and Tebello ’Tibz’ Motsoane told the court that Gcaba should be in the dock, as he was the one who transferred the funds.
The court previously heard that Mziwethemba Gwabeni received an amount of R800 000 from Gcaba and shared the cash with his co-accused on the day the rapper was killed.
It has been suggested that Gwabeni was the paymaster, who ensured that everyone who was involved in the assassination received their share.
Gwabeni and four other accused appeared in court on Monday for a continuation of their bail application.
Forbes and Motsoane were shot and killed outside a restaurant on Florida Road in Durban in February last year.
“The immense problem that the state has in this matter is the status of Mfundo Gcaba and the failure on the part of the state to arrest him,” Advocate Paul Jorgensen.
“The state has alleged that I am the mastermind behind the killing of Kiernan Forbes and Tebello Motsoane and that an amount of R800 000, which was transferred to my account, was a payment for the so-called hit.”
“The state has alleged the transferring of the funds was payment for the shooting. In this regard, paragraph 71 of Pillay’s affidavit refers, ‘According to company records, Mr Sydney Mfundo Gcaba is the sole director of this company. When the money was transferred, a reference was used as a consult’. Thus, we are of the view that this was done to disguise the nature of the funds, as the same is viewed to be payment for the shooting.
“If the state honestly believes this and if it had any evidence not conjecture, then I would have expected that Mfundo Gcaba would have been arrested and would have been a co-accused. The fact that he is not a co-accused and the state has not taken this court into his confidence and disclosed why they have chosen not to arrest him.
“As I have stated in my founding affidavit, I’m involved in the coal-mining industry and consult with various parties. The reference accompanying the deposit of R800 000 into my account, namely consult, is a collaboration of this fact,” added Advocate Jorgensen.
The case against five of the seven accused has been postponed to next month.
Two of the other accused in the case are set to appear in the Eswatini Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday as they wait to be extradited.
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