The trial of alleged serial killer and rapist Themba Shongwe continued in the Secunda Regional Court thoday.

Shongwe is on trial for the murder and rape of four young girls in eMbalenhle. He is not being charged with the murder of a fifth unidentified victim, although the police strongly believe the cases are all related.

Victims

Nokulunga Nkutha (11) was reported missing in August 2016 and her body was dumped in the street. Cynthia Masilela (16) was raped, murdered and dumped in the street in 2017.

Nokulunga’s cousin, Lerato Nkutha (also 11), was raped and murdered in May 2018. Mihle Singamo (14) was killed in the same manner in November 2019.

Court proceedings

The four days set aside for the trial were interrupted when Shongwe fell ill on February 13 and had to be rushed to the clinic. The court was forced to adjourn until the next day.

As the trial resumed on February 14, the court wanted to know what had happened to a fifth crime kit. The former head of detectives at eMbalenhle police, Captain Simon Mlotshwa, told the court that he never received the fifth crime kit because he was on leave at the time.

He did not know who had received it to take to the forensic laboratory in Pretoria.

A mother testifies

Lerato’s mother, Zodwa Zuma, took the witness stand to tell the court about events on May 7, 2018, the day her child went missing.

Zuma said Lerato, who was often referred to as just Rato, returned home from school and asked Zuma for R20 to buy a kota (bread filled with chips and poloni) at a nearby shop. They lived close to Shongwe.

Zuma became anxious when she realised the little girl was taking longer than usual to return home. The mother went to look for Lerato at her friend’s house, where she was told that Rato had run to the shop.

Zuma discovered that Lerato had never made it to the shop. She then phoned Lerato’s father who told her to go to the police station.

Zuma claims the police did not help her. When Lerato’s father arrived in a minibus, the family went to Secunda Police Station where they were assisted by members of the K9 Unit who helped them search for Lerato until late at night.

“The police said it was too dark and they had to resume the search the following day,” Zuma said.

Interaction with accused

She told the court that before the search resumed, she encountered Shongwe on her way home. He was standing outside his house.

Zuma testified that Shongwe advised her to go search for Rato in an informal settlement – Marikana Section in Ext 17, where there are reeds, water and mud in which a body could have been dumped.

The prosecutor, Advocate Tracy Keen-Horak, asked Zuma if Shongwe had been part of the search, to which the mother answered ‘no’.

She testified that Shongwe was a family friend who used to send Rato to buy him cigarettes. He sometimes asked her parents for money or cigarettes.

Zuma told the court that she was awakened on the morning of May 9 by a friend shouting her nickname ‘Msholozi’. The friend said Lerato’s body was found.

Lerato’s body was dumped in Ext 15 in a yard next to the main road that separates Ext 15 and Ext 17. The dumpsite is about 100m from Lerato’s home in Ext 17.

With eyes full of tears, Zuma told the court that she rushed to the scene where the police stopped her from touching her daughter’s body.

The little girl’s bottom lip was missing. She was later buried in Dundee, KZN.

Defence

Shongwe, through his attorney, put it to Zuma that on the day when Learato went missing, he was not at home.

He claims that he was drinking at a tavern with friends.

When a friend brought him home, he noticed a group of people standing on the corner. Shongwe said the group told him they were searching for the missing Lerato.

Forensics

During the previous court appearance, forensic pathologists also testified about how they received and examined the bodies of the murdered girls and their findings, while police officers testified how they handled the exhibits from the station to the forensic laboratory in Pretoria.

During today’s proceedings, forensic expert Phokela Mogashoa testified that DNA linked Shongwe to three of the four crime kits that were sent to the forensic laboratory in Pretoria.

The case has been postponed to March 26-27.