Defence argues over ‘crucial’ piece of paper in Vesele murder trial

The defence teams in the trial for the murder of Mboneli Vesele have argued that a piece of paper supposedly found in the room of one of the accused, and apparently crucial to the state’s case, be disregarded. It is alleged that the writing on the piece of paper reportedly found in Thamsanqa Mgwetyana’s room is the same as that on a ‘hitlist’ found in a maroon Jeep suspected of being used in the murder of Vesele. The ‘hitlist’ contained the names of senior officials of the University of Fort Hare.

Mgwetyana has been accused of being the author of the piece of paper and the ‘hitlist’. Mgwetyana, Zimele Chiliza, Mthobisi Khanyile, Nkosiyazi Maphumulo, Bafana Chiliza, Lindokuhle Manjati, Phelisa Nkonyeni and Isaac Plaatjies are facing charges including the murder of Vesele, who was gunned down in January 2023. In a trial-within-a-trial before the Bhisho High Court on Tuesday, it was argued that the constitutional rights of Mgwetyana had been violated: that his rights were not read to him and that he had consented to a search without understanding what he was consenting to.

The defence also argued that testimonies of the police officers who were at the scene were contradictory. Two of the police officers, a “Sergeant Mokoena” and a “Constable Ndlovu”, testified that the piece of paper was found on the floor of the room, while a “Warrant Officer Ndumiso” said the paper had been found in a drawer. It was argued that the two versions were mutually destructive and not admissible in court.

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State prosecutor advocate Louis Sinclair argued that Mgwetyana had been read his rights and had been asked to consent. Sinclair submitted that evaluating the evidence as a whole and looking at the probabilities, Ndumiso’s recollection of him searching for the paper and collecting the paper exhibit in a drawer in the room of the accused was incorrect. “This version is clearly not supported, even by his own affidavit and the corroborated evidence of both Sergeant Mokoena and Constable Ndlovu, which indicated that the exhibit was pointed out by Constable Ndlovu to Ndumiso where it was situated on the floor of the room,” Sinclair said.

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