NELSPRUIT – A man with deformed hands is accused of strangling a man with a seatbelt. Mr Vincent Mxolisi Mokoena (28) appeared in the Gauteng Circuit of the High Court yesterday.
Mokoena and another accused, Mr Henry Skumbuza Mokoena (34) were charged with the murder of Mr Sydney Mkhatswa (28). The charges against Henry were later withdrawn.
The incident had occurred during June 8 to 12, 2013. The charge sheet stated the cause of death was strangulation.
A trial within a trial began after Mokoena alleged the police had threatened to torture him if he refused to confess to committing the crime. He also claimed police had shown him parts of the crime scene to point out before the official pointing out was conducted.
Three police officers and the accused testified in court on the proceedings when Mokoena was arrested. In court it then came to light when pictures were shown, that the accused’s hands were deformed. He had been born with three fingers on each hand curled up and unable to function.
In his statement given to Capt Dolf Smith, Mokoena claimed that he was in the passenger seat next to the deceased who was in the driver’s seat, Henry Mokoena was in the back. He alleged that Mkhatswa’s seatbelt was not fastened and that Henry Mokoena had tied the seatbelt around the victims head and strangled him to death. Mokoena had pulled the handbrake and switched off the ignition.
He said in his statement that Mkhatswa was drunk and that he and Henry had wanted to take the vehicle but had not planned on killing the victim.
They then drove off and dumped the body on the R36 between Lydenburg and Orighstad. The accused denied that he had given the statement yet did not deny his signature on it.
The trial continues.
