Transcripts contradicts officer testimony in Secunda Regional Court
Advocate Tracy Keen-Horak, said the transcripts are not reflecting what the witness said and requested the court to put that on record.
The Secunda Regional Court postponed the trial of Themba Shongwe, a suspected serial killer and rapist, to April 17 and 18.
Previously, the trial was postponed because the defence wanted the transcripts of the testimony of the investigating officer, Sergeant Hezekiel Malapela.
According to advocate Tracy Keen-Horak, the transcripts are not reflecting what the witness said and she requested the court to put that on record.
The trial was supposed to continue over two days, April 5 and 6, but magistrate Graham Cupido said the trial had to be postponed due to the early closure of the court on April 6 for Easter.
At the next sitting, Malapela will continue with his evidence as he is still under oath. After the court adjourned, a quarrel erupted between Shongwe’s mother and the mother of one of the victims.
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Malapela intervened by asking them not to argue about something still going on in court. Both women agreed and left.
Malapela, a detective with the police’s Secunda-based Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS), renowned for investigating serial offenders, spent two days on the witness stand last year.
Shongwe is on trial for the rape and murders of four girls, Mihle Zingamo, Cynthia Masilela, Lerato Nkutha and Nokulunga Nkutha, between 2016 and 2018.
In his previous testimony, Malapela told the court an unidentified girl was buried as a pauper because no one claimed her remains.
He testified that after studying the case and the photo album, he believed the girl was murdered by the same person who killed the other four girls.
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He said some similarities were how her body was found and the postmortem results that were the same as those of the other four dockets.
He previously told the court the girl’s injuries were similar to those of the other four girls. How she was dumped, was also the same.
Malapela testified that this girl had also been redressed when her body was discovered and there was also white foam coming out of her nose.
He also testified about his investigation into Mihle Zingano’s murder. Mihle (14) was reported missing before her body was found dumped in the street in 2018.
Malapela said another victim survived and an identification parade was held, but the little girl was unable to identify Shongwe.
He also testified the social worker’s report stated that, according to a report from the doctor, the victim’s thinking capacity was the same as that of a four-year-old.
Malapela testified that Shongwe was released at that time and his cellphone confiscated.
He told the court that after all the dockets were assigned to him, he called for an Ext 17 imbizo to notify the community that he was taking over as the investigating officer assigned to all four cases of the murdered girls.
