A police officer who conducted a preliminary investigation into the murder of University of Fort Hare bodyguard Mboneli Vesele has testified that CCTV footage from the home of vice-chancellor Prof Sakhela Buhlungu showed a maroon Jeep driving past the property.
The vehicle is alleged to have been used in the murder of Vesele, Buhlungu’s bodyguard, near the vice-chancellor’s home on January 6 2023.
The officer, who is among several witnesses who may not be named to protect their identity, was testifying in the Bhisho High Court on Wednesday.
Eight accused — Zimele Chiliza, Mthobisi Khanyile, Nkosiyazi Maphumulo, Bafana Chiliza, Thamsanqa Mgwetyana, Lindokuhle Manjati, Phelisa Nkonyeni and Isaac Plaatjies — have pleaded not guilty to charges including Vesele’s murder, conspiracy to commit murder, unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possession of a semi-automatic rifle and a .38 revolver.
Chiliza, Manjati, Nkonyeni and Plaatjies, a former UFH director of investigations and vetting, also face charges of defeating the ends of justice.
A ninth accused, Mthobisi Dlamini of KwaZulu-Natal, was initially hauled to court in connection with the Fort Hare murders. But his involvement proved to be related only to the theft and sale of the Jeep.
He admitted to stealing the Jeep, valued at R160,000, in Berea, Durban, in December 2022, and selling it for R3,500. It was later allegedly used in Vesele’s murder.
Dlamini, who was arrested in March 2023, has since been sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for the theft of the Jeep after entering into a plea agreement with the state.
The state dropped the other charges against him.
Neither investigating officer Detective-Sergeant Accasius Mokoena nor the car’s owner, Kuben Naidoo, objected to Dlamini’s plea and sentence agreement, or the withdrawal of the other charges linked to the Fort Hare attacks.
The officer whose identity is being withheld told the court on Wednesday that the Jeep was found at about 10pm on the day Vesele was murdered.
It had been abandoned on the side of the road, about 5km from the crime scene, towards KwaMaqoma.
He and colleagues called the local criminal record centre and an officer on standby and then circulated images of the vehicle.
The next day he took a statement from a security guard working at Buhlungu’s home in Dikeni (formerly Alice).
He met the security guard at the crime scene but could not take a statement.
He did not take the Jeep to the police station.
“I don’t know what time it got to the police station,” he said.
The officer testified that when he viewed the CCTV footage from Buhlungu’s home on the day of the attack, he saw the maroon jeep passing by.
When it was put to him by defence advocate Mark Botha, who represents Plaatjies, that his client had been involved in investigating the case before the court, the officer said: “That could be true, but we have never met. The case was not investigated by me.
“I was involved during the initial stages, and then the docket was transferred from our office. I don’t know what stage it was at when he was involved in the investigation.”
Asked if the statements taken in the initial investigation, including his statement, were rewritten by the national police task team and typed up, the officer said he had no knowledge of that.
“I can’t say my statement is missing, because I saw the typed statement and it is the same as the written statement. I had no issue and didn’t follow up.
“It would be better if there was evidence to back that up.”
The officer is the second witness to testify since the trial started on Monday.
The first witness, a security guard who was on duty the night the bodyguard was killed, testified about how he phoned Vesele after hearing a volley of gunshots near Buhlungu’s home — unaware that he had already been fatally shot just metres away.
The trial continues on Monday.
Daily Dispatch
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