The fiancée of Sipho Mkhatshwa, one of the three men accused of killing Hillary Gardee has claimed that an SMS which is believed to be a tip-off from an alleged sangoma, which led to the Mkhatshwa's arrest, might have come from a jealous ex mother-in-law.
The twist came when Mkhatshwa's fiancée Zandile Magagula told the Nelspruit magistrate's court on Monday that the SMS which was circulating and may have been used to arrest her partner was actually not from a sangoma.
Mkhatshwa, Philemon Lukhele and Albert Gama are accused of abducting and killing Gardee, the daughter of former EFF secretary-general Godrich Gardee, in April.
She went missing on April 29 while shopping at Nelspruit Plaza with her adopted three-year-old daughter.
The daughter was later dumped at KaMagugu, where they stayed.
Gardee's lifeless body with stab wounds, boot prints and a gunshot wound was found by timber plantation workers on May 3, about 60km outside Mbombela towards Sabie.
“Journalists approached me with an SMS... The SMS is supposed to be from the man they called a sangoma whom my fiancé is supposed to have consulted.
“The SMS detailed that Mkhatshwa used muthi to get me and had sold our two children who are living with albinism for R2m.
“When I checked, I found that the SMS was sent from the number of my ex mother-in-law. At the bottom of the SMS, my biological mother's number was written down,” Magagula told the court.
Magagula also detailed how her fiancé was allegedly beaten by police during his arrest on May 6.
She said their children were present and she suffered trauma.
Magagula said she was eight months pregnant at the time and delivered a premature baby girl on May 27, saying this was due to “stress”.
She said her children are truamatised and she is not coping financially since Mkhatshwa was arrested.
Mkhatshwa brought bank statements to prove that he was making transactions at Capitec bank in Malalane on April 29 when Gardee disappeared.
However, state prosecutor Adv Ntsika Mpolweni told him that the transactions didn't bear a branch code from where he did the physical transactions.
“I put it to you that the transactions could have been made anywhere as there is no name of a branch here and times, only dates,” said Mpolweni.
Earlier on Monday, Mkhatshwa told the court that he refused a deal from the state to turn state witness.
“The public is picketing outside because they are fed-up with the abuse and killing of women and children... they are not saying Sipho Mkhatshwa is guilty.
“If I was not one of the accused [of the suspects], I would probably join them because even me, I'm fed-up with the abuse of women and children,” said Mkhatshwa when asked if his release would disturb public peace.
Mkhatshwa's lawyer Adv Sakhile Nkosi asked him why he was visited by the investigating team, and he said they were persuading him to be a state witness.
“The investigating officer first visited me on June 5 before you [Nkosi] came across him. On that day, he told me that he was aware that the victim was not killed at Intsika Guesthouse.
“He also said they know that there are four people in Ekurhuleni who will implicate me in the case.
“They then asked me to turn state witness and said they wanted me to think about it. When you [Nkosi] came on June 8 and found them there, they were inquiring if I had made a decision. I refused and told them that they must not abuse state powers but do their own investigation,” said Mkhatshwa.
The bail application is due to continue on Tuesday, where the state is expected to call witnesses.
The bail application of Lukhele and Gama is set to start on Wednesday.
newsdesk@sowetan.co.za
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