Alfred Zwane (28), arrested for a series of crimes in Muldersdrift, has backtracked on the statement he made to the police in which he implicated himself in two murders and several robberies, according to a report by The Star newspaper.
For two days, Zwane gave his version of events and also fielded some hard questions from the prosecutor as the South Gauteng High Court sought to get to the bottom of his allegations that he was coerced into admitting to crimes he did not commit.
The report states that Zwane and two co-accused, Samson Mandlezi (24) and Manir Lubisi (28), face 18 charges that include two murders, two attempted murders and many robberies with aggravated circumstances.
The trio allegedly shot and killed Alyssa Botha (13) in September 2012 and André Jordaan in his house a day later.
The defence was supposed to start with its case when allegations of police brutality surfaced, forcing the judge to hold a trial-within-a-trial to determine the truthfulness of the accused’s claims.
Zwane said he was assaulted into admitting to the crimes, and taken to some houses and forced to point out the scenes of crimes he did not commit.
The trial is still set to continue.
