Sithole killers’ trial postponed

Second state witness Clarence Mahundla had told the court how he witnessed the attack and how he had tried to stop the attackers from further injuring Sithole.

Mthinto Bhengu, Sizwe Mngomezulu, Sifundi Mzimela and a 17-year-old youth are facing charges of murder and assault with grievous bodily harm for allegedly killing Sithole in a street in April.

Mahundla said he had stepped out of his home in Alexandra and was walking to a nearby shop when he saw the four accused chasing Sithole down the street. He approached the scene and had tried to intervene when Bhengu allegedly hit Sithole with a spanner, after which he fell to the ground.

The court heard how Mzimela also latched onto Sithole with an Okapi knife, stabbing him on his upper body. Mahundla identified the first two attackers, Bhengu and Mzimela, in the photographs shown in court.

Tshege Ntake, for Bhengu and the minor, asked Mahundla where the minor was at that point of the alleged attack.

”He wanted to stab the deceased but was stopped, he then kicked the man as he lay on the ground,” said Mahundla.

The court had previously heard from first state witness, Fabian Gomez, that the 17-year-old had started the fight by grabbing cigarettes from Sithole’s stall without paying for them. Sithole followed him, demanding his cigarettes back, but was attacked, allegedly by the four accused who took turns to assault him.

The photographs were first published in the Sunday Times newspaper during the wave of attacks aimed at foreign nationals that hit parts of South Africa in April.

Magistrate Lucas van der Schyff postponed the trial to August 17.

ANA