VUYO MKIZE
THE SOWETO man and woman accused of the rape and murder of 20-year-old Nobuhle Zungu have given the Johannesburg High Court conflicting versions of what happened.
First to testify yesterday was Jacob Mkhwevu. He claimed to have been involved in a relationship with Zungu, and that on August 11 last year, they had had consensual sex in co-accused Ntombifuthi Ntombela’s shack in Doornkop, Soweto.
The State alleges that Zungu was raped, poisoned and strangled.
“I was at my wife’s house in Snake Park when Nobuhle asked me to come over to Ntombifuthi’s house. I found the two women drinking alcohol. From my observation, the mood was not good between them, but I didn’t pay much attention to that. Ntombifuthi said she was going to a tavern, and Zungu and I were alone.”
Mkhwevu said he and Zungu then had sex, and after that he told her he had to go back to his house to fix his TV so he could watch a soccer match later that night.
“Later, around 8pm, I heard a whistle blown outside. I went out and saw a lot of people talking about a person who had died. Myself and other residents went closer and I saw people pointing to Ntombifuthi’s shack. I phoned her and told her there were people outside her place. She said she was standing there watching everything,” he said.
Ntombela’s testimony, however, painted a different picture. She told Judge Emmerson Monama: “If I had wanted to kill Nobuhle, I would have done so a long time ago because I (occasionally) lived with her. I regarded her as my daughter and best friend; I didn’t have any ill-will towards her.”
She told the court that Mkhwevu had arrived at her place that afternoon with a bag of “things” he had bought for Zungu for a school trip.
She said Mkhwevu asked her to invite Zungu over. When she and Zungu got back to her shack, the three of them sat talking and laughing.
As she was pregnant, she refused alcohol when Mkhwevu offered to buy her and Zungu some. She said Mkhwevu went to the tavern, and when he came back, he and Zungu drank alcohol while she drank some cooldrink.
“It was nice… While sitting there I felt hungry and went to the other shack (used as a kitchen) to make food. As I was busy, I heard a sound from the shack they were in.” She went to investigate, but the door” was locked. When Mkhwevu opened it, she said she “found Zungu on the ground with her trousers partially removed”.
When she confronted Mkhwevu about him having sex in her shack, he apologised and said it was a mistake”.
Zungu tried to get onto a chair but collapsed. Ntombela said Zungu started vomiting, and when she tried to help her, Mkhwevu stopped her.
“He told me to leave her, that he was done with her. I asked him what he meant, he said he had spoken to my boyfriend Siphiwe Khanyile, and he had promised him a kombi if he gave Zungu ‘something’ and the rape case against him (Khanyile) was withdrawn. He took out a small plastic he said was muti,” Ntombela said.
Mkhwevu then locked Zungu in the shack and told Ntombela to go to Khanyile’s sister.
The trial continues.