KZN cop queried over statements
2012-12-06 18:00
Durban - A police officer investigating the death of an
IFP supporter admitted on Thursday that he had not read all the eyewitness
statements implicating five men accused of her murder.
Captain Cedric Nthenga first told the Durban Regional
Court that there were two eyewitness statements, but under cross-examination
said there were "four or five".
Nthenga is the investigating officer in the case of five
men accused of killing IFP supporter Cebisile Shezi on 6 October.
He was giving evidence in the bail hearing of four of
them.
Mgezeni "Bhungu" Gwala, his son Mjabulelwa
Gwala, Malusi Sibusiso Ncengwa, and Skhumbuzo Nxumalo are charged with killing
Shezi.
A fifth accused, Bonginhlanhla Gwala, was released on
bail of R20 000 last month.
Nthenga made the admission while being questioned by
advocate Paul Jorgensen about an eyewitness statement that implicated only two
of the accused.
"Since you haven't read all the statements, you don't
know that there might be a statement that supports the applicants'
version," said Jorgensen.
Nthenga said he believed that if the four men were
released, there would be an increase in violence in KwaMashu similar to that
experienced in the township in the 1980s.
Shezi was shot dead outside the Thembalihle railway
station, in KwaMashu, shortly after Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa addressed
IFP supporters at a sports field in A-section, KwaMashu, on 6 October.
She was wearing an IFP T-shirt at the time. Mthethwa had
been speaking to IFP supporters in an attempt to reduce tensions in the area.
- SAPA
