No evidence against Tyololo
In the wake of Mandla Tyololo's recent acquittal, the National Prosecuting Authority has now explained why the former Knysna Taxi Association secretary was set free. Tyololo was one of four men arrested after Knysna councillor Victor Molosi's murder in 2018. Molosi was gunned down near his home in Knysna in July 2018 and the three men charged with his murder - former Ward 4 councillor Velile Waxa, former municipal official Mawande Makhala and Cape Town resident Vela Patrick Dumile - were convicted on 11 December last year. After Tyololo was acquitted by the Knysna Regional Court two weeks ago, his attorney Bulelane Bans said people assumed his client had been arrested for killing Molosi. "He was never arrested for the murder of Molosi. He was arrested on 3 August 2018 and charged with conspiracy to commit murder back in 2017," he said. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the State's case rested on the evidence of state witness Moses Shogole, who alleged that near the end of 2016, Tyololo was part of a conspiracy to murder Molosi. "He (Shogole) alleged that Tyololo offered to pay him money to shoot Molosi. He however decided not to go ahead with the murder and only made a statement in 2018 after Molosi was murdered, when he was questioned by the police about the rumours of a conspiracy," Ntabazalila said.
"The magistrate found that the uncorroborated evidence of Moses Shogole was riddled with contradictions and of such poor quality that Tyololo should be discharged," he added.
Ntabazalila went on to explain: "Tyololo was discharged … in terms of Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977, which encompasses the right of an accused to be discharged from the offence he has allegedly committed where, at the close of the State's case, there is no evidence on which the court may draw the accused to the charge."
Bans did not want to comment on the possibility of a claim against the state and said Tyololo's main focus now is his reintegration into the community, after spending two years in prison.
Waxa and Makhala have appealed their conviction and the appeal is expected to be heard by the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein early next year.