Did key state witnesses in the murder trial of former Community Policing Forum (CPF) members Ismaeel Dhalech, Ebrahim Adams, Mahomed Ashraf, and Yaseen Mohamed, deliberately misrepresent what occurred, in order to falsely implicate them?

Do the witnesses harbour a personal grudge against the accused that motivated them to do so?

Defence attorneys, Advocate Ravindra Maniklall and Zubair Chothia, explored the likelihood that this is so, when the trial resumed in the Newcastle Regional Court last Monday, August 25.

The CPF members are charged with the murder of 26-year old Khulekani Hlatshwayo, who was brutally beaten to death on December 24, 2022.

It is alleged that Hlatshwayo was apprehended by the CPF members who caught him attempting to break into a Paradise home.

On Monday, the state called Jowhara Mohamed (20) to the witness stand. It is alleged that Jowhara and her mother, Shireen, were watching from the window while Hlatshwayo was being assaulted directly in front of their house.

Jowhara testified that, around 11pm that night, she heard sirens followed by the sound of Dhalech shouting outside for her mother.

Jowhara said she saw Dhalech and Adams with Hlatshwayo when she looked out the window.

She further explained that Dhalech had accused Hlatshwayo of buying drugs from Jowhara’s family and alleged that Dhalech and Adams were attempting to beat a confession out of Hlatshwayo, when Hlatshwayo denied buying drugs.

According to Jowhara, Dhalech was using a sjambok to beat Hlatshwayo and Adams was using a bat. She was uncertain if it was a baseball bat or a cricket bat.

“Adams said he was going to burn our house down,” recalled Jowhara.

Jowhara later changed her story to say that she actually only witnessed Dhalech strike Hlatshwayo one time with the sjambok before leading him away. She said she also only witnessed Adams striking Hlatshwayo once on the back with the bat.

Both Dhalech and Adams deny assaulting Hlatswayo.

“They (Dhalech and Adams) then took him (Hlatswayo) to the driveway, where Dhalech’s van was parked. There were a lot of people there.”

When questioned about the fact that Shireen said the van was parked by a tree in front of the house, Jowhara’s response was, “I don’t know what she’s talking about. I don’t remember a bakkie parked there.”

Jowhara said the only other bakkie she could remember seeing that night, was a police van parked in the street.

“No mention was made of a police van in your statement to the police?” asked Maniklall.

“I told him (the investigating officer) there was one bakkie, and a police van. Some of what is written in my statement looks like he wrote down his own thing,” said Jowhara.

However, Jowhara later explained some of the discrepancies between the statement she made to the police and her testimony in court, saying she struggled with her memory after suffering an anxiety attack in June last year.

Jowhara said she could clearly see what was happening as the front of her house was well-lit with solar lights.

Earlier in the trial, Shireen testified, however, that she could not see who was assaulting Hlatshwayo as a number of community members had surrounded him by that time.

She further stated that she and Jowhara were using their cellphone torches to see what was happening outside.

Chothia asked Jowhara why she and her mother were using their cellphone torches, if the solar lights were working.

“I put it to you that the lights were not working that night,” said Chothia, adding that it would have been too dark for either Jowhara or her mother to see anything at all.

“The lights were working,” responded Jowhara.

While Jowhara conceded that she could no longer see what was happening when Hlatshwayo was taken to the back of Dhalech’s van, she said that she could hear the assault on Hlatshwayo continue for another hour and a half.

At some time during the assault on Hlatshwayo, Jowhara said she saw her cousins, Ashraf and Mohamed (accused 3 and 4) walk past her window towards the back of Dhalech’s van carrying a bat.

Jowhara said she could not remember whether it was Ashraf or Mohamed who was carrying the bat.

In her statement to the police, Jowhara said both her cousins assaulted Hlatshwayo with either a cricket bat or a baseball bat.

However, during cross examination by Maniklall, Jowhara agreed that she didn’t see either of her cousins assault Hlatshwayo.

She couldn’t remember having told the police otherwise, and admitted that her statement, therefore, contained a false allegation about Ashraf and Mohamed.

“Afterwards, they stripped the guy (Hlatshwayo) naked and left him,” stated Jowhara. She admitted, however, that she did not actually see Hlatshwayo being stripped.

“After he was assaulted, Hlatshwayo jumped over the fence into our yard. He was naked,” she explained. “When my mother and I saw him in the yard, he couldn’t walk properly and looked drowsy but I didn’t see any marks on his body at the time. We called Sanele (an employee of Jowhara’s family, who rents a room on their property) to take him out of the yard.”

While Jowhara’s statement to the police states that Hlatshwayo was badly injured when she saw him in her yard, Jowhara testified in court that she doesn’t recall ever saying this to the police.

Jowhara said Sanele left Hlatshwayo outside the property gate, and Hlatshwayo walked across the road and lay down.

She did not see Sanele remove Hlatshwayo from the yard and cannot account for how long it took. Jowhara explained that she didn’t want to look, as Hlatshwayo was naked at the time.

Maniklall asked Jowhara if she recalled a phonecall her aunt (the mother of Ashraf and Mohamed) made to Shireen warning Shireen that they needed to stop assaulting Hlatshwayo or they would get into trouble.

The phonecall came after Hlatshwayo had entered Jowhara’s yard, when the CPF and other members of the community had already left.

“Your mother then told your aunt that they were removing Hlatshwayo from the yard?” said Maniklall.

“We told Sanele to remove the guy,” agreed Jowhara. She did not, however, respond to the allegation made by Maniklall that Hlatshwayo was being assaulted by someone in Jowhara’s yard.

Maniklall then proceeded to question Jowhara about what happened to the CCTV footage that Shireen told the police she had of the incident.

“We thought there was (footage), but there was no recording,” said Jowhara. “When the investigating officer came to our house for the DVR, we gave it to him and told him we were not sure if there was any footage on it.”

Maniklall pointed out that Jowhara had told the court there was loadshedding when the incident occurred.

“Did your mother know the cameras were not recording during loadshedding?” asked Maniklall.

“Yes,” responded Jowhara.

“Did you ever hear your mother tell your aunt over the phone that she was going to delete the recording?” asked Maniklall.

“She did tell me my aunty told her to delete the footage,” said Jowhara.

Maniklall went on to point out that the only two people who say they saw Dhalech assault Hlatshwayo are Jowhara and Shireen …

The two people who would have ‘an axe to grind’ after Dhalech was instrumental in the recent arrest of Jowhara’s father, Taahir. Taahir was subsequently convicted and sentenced for kidnapping and assault.

“Dhalech had your father arrested. Were you upset and angry?” asked Maniklall.

“Yes,” responded Jowhara.

“Enough to want to implicate him in this case?” asked Maniklall.

“No,” said Jowhara.

The trial was scheduled to continue on August 26, but could not proceed as the state prosecutor, Mr Mazibuko, had misplaced colour photos depicting Hlatshwayo’s injuries which will be admitted into evidence at the next court date.

The trail will resume in the Newcastle Regional Court on September 9.

ALSO READ: Four CPF members charged with murder, including chairperson

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