... what Masimula told court

- Themba Masimula submitted that he was scheduled to preach at a half-night prayer service in Ezulwini on October 8, 2016 and at 2am, he and his wife, who was also a preacher, drove home.

MBABANE

He said they stopped at Engen Filling Station in Mbabane where he bought copies of newspapers and five litres of petrol for a motor vehicle that he said was parked at his homestead. He said as they got closer to Nkhaba, he was feeling fatigued and the reality of the death of his father, who had died a couple of hours earlier, got the better of him.

“I was fatigued emotionally, physically and spiritually,” he said.

Masimula told the court that he suggested to his wife that they should spend the night at their homestead at Nkhaba but she wanted them to continue to her place of employment in Pigg’s Peak, since they had left their two children with the housekeeper.

AsLeeP

The pastor continued to tell the court that his wife fell asleep when they reached Nkhaba and he took a turn to their homestead, where he took his cellphone, iPad and keys.

He said he noticed that his wife had shifted from the passenger seat to the driver’s side.

“It was foggy and drizzling. I took a nap since I was no longer driving. I was awoken by a loud noise and realised that the car was heading to a ditch. I shouted and told my wife to be careful. Instinctively, I opened the door on my side and jumped out. I realised my wife was still in the car and I opened the door on the driver’s side to rescue her. I discovered that she had shifted to the passenger side where I was sitting and I thought she tried to follow me since the door that side was opened.

FLAMes

“However, the car had slid closer to the wall of the ditch and the door was closed. When I tried to pull her out of the car burst into flames from under the dashboard. The fire struck me on my face and the impact and shock forced me off the car. I was leaning inside the car trying to pull my wife out of the car,” he narrated.

Masimula said he momentarily lost his mind and he found himself on the other side of the road. He said when he came to his senses, he looked around and saw the car in flames across the road. “I was traumatised and began to make frantic calls,” he added.

Masimula told the court that he called his close friend, Pastor Muzi Khanyile and told him that he had been involved in an accident.

He submitted that when Pastor Khanyile eventually arrived, they proceeded to the accident scene and found the car still in flames.

He submitted that they thought that his wife had escaped and dialled her phone number, but it was not available on the network.