Witness tried to stop murderers
STATE witness Clarence Mahundla intervened and tried to stop the alleged killers of Mozambican hawker Emmanuel Sithole, the Johannesburg Regional Court, sitting in the magistrate’s court, heard yesterday.
Mahundla told the court he witnessed the attack on Sithole on April 28.
Mthinto Bhengu, Sizwe Mngomezulu, Sifundi Mzimela and a 17-year-old are being tried in connection with the murder of Sithole.
In the photographs shown in court, Mahundla was seen approaching the scene of the attack. He was wearing a yellow T-shirt and a black leather jacket.
“What were you doing at this point in the photograph?” prosecutor Jacob Tloubatla asked Mahundla.
“I was screaming at the man with a long spanner to stop attacking the deceased… I told him the deceased had had enough, and he should stop.”
He identified the attacker with a spanner as Mzimela.
The next photograph showed Bhengu walking away from Sithole, and facing Mahundla.
Mahundla was holding his hands up, his palms towards Bhengu.
“I was telling him to walk away… the deceased was hurt as a result of the blows from the spanner,” said Mahundla.
The photographs were published in the Sunday Times during the xenophobic attacks that spread to several parts of the country in April.
The four face charges of murder and assault with grievous bodily harm.
The trial continues.