THE BEAST?
Mother ‘too afraid’ to testify for son at his trial, ‘fearing for her life’
Mom attacked by community members angered at severity of accusations
The mother of Malibongwe Ncokolo, the man accused of 21 rapes and three murders, was too scared to go to the Bhisho high court to testify on her son’s behalf on Wednesday.
That is because the woman, who is in her 70s, was attacked after Ncokolo was arrested on June 5 in 2017, according to the accused’s lawyer, Ncumisa Dyantyi.
Dyantyi told Judge Igna Stretch that the elderly woman feared for her life because people had taken issue with her after her child’s arrest and the severity of the charges against him.
She even had to move out of her NU2 Mdantsane home for fear of further attacks.
Ncokolo also faces four counts of common assault, nine counts of assault with an intent to cause grievous bodily harm and one count of sexual assault.
Dyantyi said Ncokolo, 46, a night shift security guard, car washer and father of one, had instructed her that his mother should testify on his behalf.
However the woman was not prepared to testify.
“She fears for her life, basically,” Dyantyi said.
She was to be the last witness for the defence.
Dyantyi said she had discussed the development with Ncokolo.
State advocate Deolin Willemse continued with his cross-examination of Ncokolo on Wednesday.
During the proceedings Ncokolo had his back to the gallery, where two women relatives of complainants sat alongside correctional service officials.
Answering questions posed by Willemse, Ncokolo said he had heard that the bodies of Bongiwe Matoyo and Lindi Malote were found on May 31 2017. He said he had heard this at the car wash where he worked.
“Since September 2014, you raped these women,” Willemse put it to Ncokolo. He fired back: “I am surprised by that.”
Stretch intervened, asking Ncokolo to answer with a straight yes or no answer, to which he said no.
Ncokolo said he was shocked to hear about the death of Matoyo. He had known her since she was young and would see her passing while he was at the car wash and in their “area”.
“Everybody was shocked,” he said.
Asked if he went to pay his respects to the family, since he knew them, he replied: “I didn’t.
I thought it’s a family thing. I could not go and ask about how she died because the family was traumatised.”
Willemse probed further, saying three counts of rape happened near Ncokolo’s home and that was why the women ended up being killed.
“My home is far from [the place], but visible. There are many houses near that place,” he said referring to the bushy area where the bodies were found.
“I can’t answer that. I was not doing things there. The person who can respond is someone who did,” he said.
He continued to maintain that he did not know the majority of the 21 women alleged to be his victims.
He said he knew only Bongiwe Matoyo, and saw Thulisa Ndika only once, when the schoolgirl wanted to give him a pamphlet near a church where she stood with other congregants. He described Matoyo as a someone who was pretty and looked like a good child.
Stretch asked if he had proposed to Matoyo.
“I didn’t. She was younger than me,” he said. He said he had a girlfriend between 2014 and 2017 and slept at home every night.
He was asked if he had heard anything about the rapes in Mdantsane.
“Because we did not have a radio, I would not hear about the matters [rapes]. I did not hear that someone was raped in my area in 2015,” he said.
Stretch postponed the case to November 2 for final written arguments from both sides.
The judge said every time the court sat, it raised the risk of Covid-19 infections. Written arguments limited this risk.
Judgement is expected on November 5.
Ncokolo remains in custody.
Because we did not have a radio, I would not hear about the matters [rapes]. I did not hear that someone was raped in my area in 2015