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Piet Els murder accused want charges dismissed

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The seven accused in the matter all brought Section 174 applications before the Northern Cape High Court on Wednesday.

Advocate Japie Schreuder consulting with his client. Picture: Soraya Crowie.

HOW DID several individuals who supposedly came to Kimberley to perform a traditional ritual and to dig up coins end up being suspected of the murder of well-known Kimberley businessman Piet Els? This is what the State has to prove today.

This follows after the seven accused in the matter all brought Section 174 applications before the Northern Cape High Court on Wednesday.

The accused, in bringing the applications before the court, argued that there was no concrete evidence linking them to the crime and in some instances even placing some of them at the scene of the crime.

The seven accused – Morapedi Rankali, Montlalentwa Qhautse, Lizbeth Ndlala, Oupa Jeffrey Mahomane, Themba Lawrence Maja, Samson Mbokane and Jabulani Wilson Zuma – are facing charges of murder, house robbery, housebreaking with the intent to commit robbery and unlawful possession of firearms.

Els and his partner were brutally attacked on his farm outside Kimberley during the early hours of January 24, 2018.

Several valuable items, including jewellery, diamonds, Krugerrands, cellphones and two firearms were stolen during the attack.

Els’ vehicle, a white Mercedes-Benz, was found abandoned on the R31 road near Phuthanang later that day.

The legal representatives of the accused on Wednesday argued that the State had failed to prove its case against their clients and that the investigation into the matter leaves much to wonder.

The legal representative of Morapedi Rankali, advocate Japie Schreuder, told the court that there is a lot of circumstantial evidence before court.

Schreuder said the reason his client is currently on trial is because the police arrested him after they found two broken pieces of a ring, which belonged to the victims, inside a plastic bag at his home.

He said that Rankali had told police that the plastic bag belonged to his brother, Karabo Rankali.

“There is no evidence that places accused 1 (Rankali) at the scene of the crime. There is also no possibility that any of the co-accused would bring evidence whereby accused 1 is implicated in this matter. The only evidence before court is the broken ring pieces that were found inside his shanty. Accused 1 at the time told the police that those ring pieces belonged to his brother and the white Audi found close to the scene of the crime, hours after the commission of the crime, belonged to the girlfriend of Karabo. Accused 1 never left the police with any uncertainty about where he got the ring,” said Schreuder.

He further argued that his other client, Oupa Jeffrey Mahomane, was linked to the crime as he had accompanied his wife, Lizbeth Ndlala, who was requested to perform a ritual.

“The accused travelled from Mpumalanga. In the statement of accused 4 (Mahomane), he said that he and his wife never went to the farm of the deceased and they had no knowledge of the assault or the robbery that took place. There is also no evidence that the firearms were found in the possession of the accused,” Schreuder said.

The legal representative of Montlalentwa Qhautse, advocate Themba Diba, said his client was arrested after the police found him at the address of someone who is suspected to be linked to the crime.

“Accused 2 (Qhautse) was found at the place of Thuso Ramolo. There is no evidence led by the State that the accused stays at the address,” said Diba.

Advocate Renier Pieterse, who represented Ndlala, said his client was only contacted by co-accused Samson Mbokane, and requested to come and assist in the traditional ritual, where they would be digging up coins in Kimberley.

He said that Ndlala and her husband (Mahomane) heeded the request and that is the only evidence against her.

Pieterse described Ndlala as a “poor rural woman who has never probably held a gun in her life”.

He said there was nothing linking her to any of the charges.

When raising the case of Themba Lawrence Maja, Pieterse argued that although his client placed himself at the scene of the crime, his version of how some of the events unfolded was corroborated by Els’ partner, who was attacked during the incident.

“It is common cause that she (Els’ partner) did not identify any of the accused. However, the accused conceded in his testimony that he entered the house of the deceased after the three other men were already inside. The accused said that he was called to go inside the house by one of the accused. When he entered he saw the elderly couple was being assaulted. One of the three men was busy molesting the elderly lady. The lady was crying and told the elderly white man to open the safe.

“Accused 5 (Maja) said he went over to the man and told him to stop and he did. This version is supported by the testimony of the victim, who said that one of the men did intervene when one of the other men was busy with her.

“Accused 5 said he left the house when he saw what was happening. Accused 5 said that he only went to the farm to dig for coins. There is no evidence that he was part of the planning of the crime. After realising what was happening, accused 5 disassociated himself from the crime and the alleged suspects,” Pieterse said.

Judge Lawrence Lever, however, reminded Pieterse that Maja again associated himself with the crime when he was picked up next to the road after the crime was committed and went back to the house where the loot of the robbery was being shared.

Pieterse agreed that his client did accept R10,000 cash and the cellphones which were found in his possession after the incident.

He said that although there was DNA evidence of his client found on the bag that was suspected to be stolen from the scene, Maja is only guilty of receiving stolen goods.

Pieterse also argued that the only evidence linking Mbokane to the matter was that he was contacted by Jabulani Zuma to come to Kimberley and dig for Krugerrand coins.

“Accused 6 (Mbokane), in his statement, said that he refused to dig up the coins at night and he later went to sleep. He was woken up in a rough manner by the owner of the house. Accused 6 said that when he woke up, he found the owner of the house and other persons busy counting money. They were told to leave and were given cash as well as coins. They then left.”

Pieterse said that although his client also accepted the money, there is no evidence that he was part of the planning or even near the scene of the crime.

“The cellphone analysis indicated that the cellphone of accused 6 (Mbokane) was stationary when the crime was committed.

“The question of why they accepted R10,000 each if they had not performed the ritual, could be just to silence them. If they had returned to Mpumalanga empty-handed, then they could have made their way to the nearest police station.

“Accused 6 (Mbokane) admits to receiving money while knowing it was stolen. There is, however, no evidence that accused 6 had common cause with the robbers who attacked Els on that day.”

Zuma’s lawyer, Chande Booysen, requested the court to take into account how the State’s investigation was conducted.

Booysen said her client was treated differently from all the other accused by the police.

She argued that there was no prima facie evidence that Zuma participated in the housebreaking nor is there enough evidence that her client was part of planning the crime.

“Zuma came to Kimberley to perform the traditional ritual after he saw the advert about the digging of coins in a local newspaper. Zuma called up accused 5 (Maja) as they could make easy money,” she said.

The trial continues on Thursday.

The legal representatives for the seven people accused of the murder of Piet Els gather together with State advocate Hannes Cloete during an adjournment at the Northern Cape High Court on Wednesday. Picture: Soraya Crowie
The seven people accused of the murder of Piet Els are Morapedi Rankali, Montlalentwa Qhautse, Lizbeth Ndlala, Oupa Jeffrey Mahomane, Themba Lawrence Maja, Samson Mbokane and Jabulani Wilson Zuma. Picture: Soraya Crowie
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