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'I saw three men with weapons'
31/07/2007 15:53 - (SA)
Scottburgh - The "shock" and "gasp" of a friend signalled to a young woman on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast that a pleasant evening with friends had come to an end, the Scottburgh High Court heard on Tuesday.
The young woman, who cannot be identified, told the court that she had been sitting in the swimming pool with three friends when Mthokozisi Mbambo, 29, Sithembiso Shelembe, 23, and Wonder Mchunu, 26, arrived at the swimming pool wielding two guns and a knife.
"I saw a shocked expression on her face," said the quietly-spoken woman.
"I looked around and saw three people with weapons in our faces."
The three men allegedly raped the three Durban women at a beach house in Pennington, south of Scottburgh, on December 29 last year. They are accused of attacking and robbing another couple later that night.
Positively IDed
The young woman told the court that their faces had not been covered up during her ordeal and she had positively identified them at an identity parade held in Durban on January 12.
Asked if she had seen the men again, she said: "They are here in the court room sitting in front of posters one, two and three."
In front of each man was a piece of white paper with the numbers "1", "2" and "3".
Judge Leona Theron ordered that people vacate the courtroom except for the media on condition that they did not name the victims.
Earlier State prosecutor Dorian Paver told the court that saliva taken from two cigarette butts and DNA would link two men to the rape of the three women.
He told the court that he would present evidence showing that DNA from two of the men accused of the December 29 rape was found inside the three rape victims.
He said that saliva from one of the accused men was also found on two cigarette butts found at the crime scene.
The three men had earlier pleaded not guilty to all the charges of rape, indecent assault and robbery with aggravating circumstances. Mbambo also pleaded not guilty to attempted murder. In the indictment before the High Court, sitting in Scottburgh, it emerged that Mbambo was diagnosed as being HIV positive "as far back as 2000".
The indictment said that Mbambo raped the women "in spite of his knowledge of the potential transmission of a virus leading to fatal consequences".
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