State witness to be examined in foiled assassination plot

Nhlanhla Maseko (35), the former accused now State witness in an alleged 2021 assassination attempt, will be cross-examined when he takes the stand at Mtubatuba Regional Court on Friday.

Maseko, a Kingdom of Eswatini national, is a witness in the case relating to the foiled alleged assassination plot on the life of then Mtubatuba mayor Thobelani Ncamphalala.

The accused, Thokozani Zakhele Dlamini (32), has pleaded not guilty to a count of conspiracy to commit murder, and one of corruption.

He is facing the corruption charge after he allegedly offered Maseko money to give false testimony in court.

The former third accused in the matter, Zakhele Khanyile, was fatally gunned down in a drive-by shooting at Macekane on 1 February.

The matter has suffered several postponements, including difficulty of securing an IsiSwati interpreter for Maseko’s testimony.

On Monday, the matter was postponed until Thursday due to the unavailability of the magistrate.

In previous proceedings, Maseko told the court he heard talks of him being ‘eliminated’ after he changed his mind about the 2021 foiled hit on Ncamphalala.

Maseko said Dlamini had been tasked with finding people to carry out the hit for a fee of R200 000.

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