Three men from Acornhoek who allegedly robbed and killed security guards and civilians in 2012, appeared in Mbombela’s Eastern Circuit High Court recently. One of their victims relayed the torture he underwent at their hands when he testified in court. The three plead not guilty when they were confronted with the list of violent robberies that they allegedly executed.
Mr Ndala Lizzy Chiloane (34), Mr George Mashaba (34) and Mr Terry Respect Mokone (26) face 14 counts of robbery, murder and attempted murder. The first of these charges stem from an incident that reportedly took place on February 23, 2012. Mr Foster Patrick Mafunyeka testified that he was working as a security guard with Ms Lilly Zodwa Ndlocu and Mr Calvin Nkathy at the Rolle railway station in Acornhoek.
“Three men bombarded us in the guardroom, demanding cash, cellphones and firearms. One of them pushed me over and the other fired a shot. They sprayed my eyes with either pepper spray or a spray gun. I remember realising then that Calvin was crying – he had been shot.” According to the post mortem conducted on Nkathy, he died on the scene due a to gunshot to the abdomen.
Mafunyeka testified that one of the men restrained him by cuffing him to a structure inside the guardroom. They shot him in his left leg and robbed him of his cellphone before leaving the room. Mafunyeka managed to uncuff himself using an umbrella that was lying in the room. “I found Lizzy outside with her hands tied behind her back.” The accused allegedly shot her as well. Mafunyeka fled the scene and attempted to contact the police, but struggled to move due to the gunshot wound to his leg. He testified that the police arrived on the scene and that he was able to identify one of the three accused, Chiloane, during an identity parade on April 4. “I remembered his face as I looked at him for five to six minutes that night,” he recalled.
The accused were also charged in connection with two more incidents. On the same evening in a café in the area, Lukeni Kenneth Nqulela was reportedly confronted by two men when he stepped out of the café. According to the state’s version, he was ordered not to make a noise before they escorted him into a room where they tied him and Mr Josias Maphosa up with waist belts. Two other men, Messrs Believe and Peaceful Simelane, were allegedly escorted into the room. Peaceful Simelane was allegedly shot and killed. The post mortem compiled on him states that he died as a result of a gunshot to the chest.
Two days later, the three accused allegedly approached Mr Phanual Hlomula Chwane and an unidentified woman in an open field in Acornhoek. The accused were charged with threatening the two. The woman fled the scene before they allegedly stole R800 from Chwane. They were also charged with the theft of his vehicle and his murder. He died as a result of a gunshot to the abdomen.
The case was postponed after defence advocate, Ms Ilana Erasmus averred that the police who arrested the accused took photos of Chiloane, Mashaba and Mokone before their arrest. She said that this compromised her clients during their identity parade, as the photos for the parade were supposed be taken after their arrest.
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