The victims of the Highgate Hotel massacre met their tragic deaths through the barrels of rifles.
Testifying in the inquest — held almost 32 years later — Colonel Victor van der Merwe, a ballistics expert, said on Monday he had observed about 30 bullet holes in one section of the drinking area.
The inquest started last week and Van der Merwe was the seventh witness to testify before judge Denzil Peterson.
The shooting happened on May 1 1993.
It left five dead and seven severely wounded survivors who have since then been seeking justice.
The formal inquest into the massacre was one of the matters referred to the National Prosecuting Authority by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and follows Eastern Cape director of public prosecutions Barry Madolo’s decision for it to be held to determine if anyone can be held criminally liable for the attack.
Royce Michael Wheeler, a 46-year-old married man was among those fatally shot on the night.
Derek John Whitfield was 42, married and a businessman.
He was shot in the chest and abdomen.
Stanley Hacking was a 65-year-old widowed father. He sustained bullet wounds which ruptured his heart and lungs.
Deon Wayne Harris, the youngest victim, was 26.
He sustained bullet wounds to both lungs. He would have celebrated his birthday on May 13, the day his sister, Lyndene Page, was due to give birth to his first niece.
Douglas William Gates was 56 and worked at the SPCA. He sustained bullet wounds to the abdominal wall, rupturing the blood vessels in his groin and buttocks.
The seven survivors — Neville Beling, Karl Andrew Weber, William Freddie Baling, Megan Nadine Boucher, Nkosinathi Alfred Gontshi, Doreen Rossouw and Charles John Bodington sustained life-altering injuries.
Gontshi worked at the hotel as a barman.
Van der Merwe said the gunshots had come from the vicinity of the entrances in the women’s and men’s bars.
He said all the wounds suffered by the five deceased had been caused by rifle bullets.
Three bullets had been recovered during postmortems.
Some of the survivors were in the court gallery as Van der Merwe testified, included Beling and Weber.
Both have testified about the tragic night.
Van der Merwe, who has 37 years experience, testified that in his investigation he had found that 19 bullets had been fired from one AK-47 rifle and 28 from another rifle.
This meant there had been two shooters, he said.
He could not link other cartridges he tested to either of the firearms.
His investigation had also shown there was no link between the Highgate massacre and the Yellowwood Hotel shooting.
He said he did not know whether fingerprints had been lifted from the scene.
In his testimony last week, Beling said that one of his operations had included removing a projectile lodged in his body.
In 2021, the projectile was given to the current investigating officer, Captain Vaughn Peterson, and was later taken for ballistic tests.
Beling testified that he wanted the projectile back.
The inquest continues on Tuesday.
Daily Dispatch
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