Accused of 21 rapes, 3 murders, suspect denies all in court
A Mdantsane man accused of killing three women and raping 21 others insists he is innocent, arguing that those who have testified against him only did so because he is the lone person in the dock.
Malibongwe Ncokolo, 46, is standing trial for the crimes, which occurred between 2014 and 2017, in the Bhisho high court.
He is also charged with two counts of robbery, five of common assault, nine of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and one of sexual assault.
He told the court on Tuesday the complainants and investigating officers who had testified against him earlier in the trial were pointing him out because he was the only person they saw in the dock.
He said he was surprised to hear a police officer’s testimony that a phone allegedly belonging to one of the women was found in his home.
“I heard in this court that the complainant was robbed and raped. I don’t know anything about that,” he told judge Igna Stretch.
Ncokolo’s lawyer, Ncumisa Dyantyi, asked him if he had anything to do with the women who were raped between Mdantsane and Chicken Farm, as well as Newlands near the railway station.
He said he was not involved. “I was the only person in the dock. That is why they [complainants] pointed [at] me. I don’t know them. I saw them for the first time in this court,” he said.
He said he was familiar with the bushy area in Mdantsane’s NU6, where the bodies of Bongiwe Matoyo and Lindi Malote were found in June 2017.
A bag belonging to school pupil Thulisa Ndika was also found. Thulisa’s body was discovered later.
Ncokolo said he remembered the missing girl as he used to see her handing out pamphlets near a local church.
However, he maintained he had “nothing to do with their killing”.
“I did not have sexual intercourse with them and had nothing to do with their disappearance,” he said.
Dyantyi put it to his client that one of the complainants said the man who raped her had introduced himself as “Malibongwe” and she had pointed him out in court.
To this he responded: “They were told where an accused sits [in court].”
During cross-examination, state prosecuting advocate Diolin Willemse suggested that Ncokolo, who was born in Tsholomnqa in Khiwane village, was speculating when he said witnesses had been shown his photograph before testifying.
Throughout his time in the dock, Ncokolo covered his right cheek with his hand so as not to make eye contact with the public gallery, among whom were three relatives of complainants.
Willemse put it to Ncokolo that the reason he remembered Thulisa was because he “had an encounter with her”.
“You recall her because you were with her in her last moments. That’s when you raped and killed her,” Willemse said.
Ncokolo, who had spoken in soft tones until that point, then heightened the pitch of his voice and asked Willemse: “Did you see me? If you did, you can talk. I can’t agree with something I don’t know.”
Ncokolo said he was surprised that his semen was found on the underwear of one of his complainants.
“I have no explanation of how my semen was found there. I am still surprised.”
The trial continues.
I was the only person in the dock. That is why they pointed [at] me. I don ’ t know them. I saw them for the first time in this court ... I did not have sexual intercourse with them and had nothing to do with their disappearance