July ’21 unrest trial begins

THE trial of Dylan and Ned Govender who are facing charges related to the July 2021 unrest has begun in the Durban High Court.

The brothers appeared in court on Wednesday and are facing a murder charge and three counts of attempted murder.

Dylan, 29, a graphic designer, and Ned, 30, a mechanical engineer, from Palmview, Phoenix, were released on bail last year.

They are appearing before Judge Gregory Kruger and are being represented by criminal defence attorney, Carl van der Merwe. The State prosecutor is Bonginkosi Nelson Mbokazi.

In terms of the indictment, the brothers have been charged with the murder of Mondli Majola, and the attempted murder of Mxolisi Putuzo, Nkululeko Mangwe and Qaphelani Mkhovu.

Majola, 19, from Zwelisha Township near Phoenix, was allegedly stabbed several times and shot. He died at the scene.

The first witness to take the stand was Vikashani Velayudam, a constable for local crime at the records centre.

The court heard that she attended the crime scene on July 12 at 6.45pm and found Majola’s body near the road.

Velayudam said there was a black plastic near the body which was near the yard of a resident, “Mr Naidoo”. In the yard just above the body there was a pool of blood. She did not know where the blood came from. She took pictures of the injuries which were stab wounds on his body. He also had a gunshot wound which entered just below his left ear and exited just below the right ear.

Warrant Officer Rajesh Naidoo, a detective at the Phoenix SAPS, testified that he was the first officer at the scene.

He told the court Majola’s body was lying near Naidoo’s home. When he interviewed Naidoo, Naidoo said he had heard noises and when he came outside his house, he had noticed the body.

“Mr Naidoo also told me there was an injured man behind his property who was unable to walk. The man identified himself as Nkululeko Mangwe from Zwelisha.

“He said he was walking with his colleagues when he was attacked by a group of Indian men. Nkululeko was badly assaulted and unable to move. He was taken to his home because of the situation at the time.”

On Monday, Mxolisi Putuzo, one of the victims, led evidence. He told the court there were two groups of people walking, one behind the other, in Dessertpalm Gardens. They were all going to Cornubia and Putuzo was in the second group.

He said while walking both groups were stopped by about five Indian men who asked where they were going.

Putuzo said the group explained they were headed to Cornubia and while they were talking a shot was fired from a Toyota Cressida, parked behind the Indian men.

He said everyone ran as another NP 200 Nissan bakkie drove by.

Putuzo said he followed Majola and Mangwe into a home that was not fenced and hid with Majola. Mangwe was on the left-hand side of the home.

He testified that a group of Indian men approached them and told them to run. He did as he was told because he could see that the men wanted to assault them.

The court heard that Majola was running in front of Putuzo towards the front of the house. He said while approaching the front of the house he saw Dylan Govender with a firearm pointed at Majola.

By this time Majola was near the road.

Putuzo told the court that he witnessed Dylan fire a shot at Majola and he watched him fall backwards with his hands in the air. He said that on witnessing the shooting he changed the direction he was running in and fled to the corner of the property.

The court heard that at the corner of the property he was assaulted by another group of Indian men who were armed with bush knives and sticks.

Putuzo testified that he sat down on the ground as the men hit him with sticks.

He told the court he managed to get up and run away but while fleeing another man stabbed him in the back with a knife.

He said a female resident from the Zwelisha township assisted him. He was taken to a clinic for treatment.

During cross-examination, Carl van der Merwe said there were discrepancies in Putuzo’s evidence.

“We cannot rely on the evidence as a true reflection of what happened on the day.”

Van der Merwe said that in his initial statement to police, Putuzo mentioned a vehicle, a Ford, had stopped next to him and fired a shot. But in his evidence on Monday he failed to mention it.

“It was a traumatic experience and you would not have forgotten something like that if it really happened,” said Van der Merwe.

Putuzo said he did not mention it because it happened a long time ago.

Van der Merwe said that during a bail application for the brothers, the investigating officer gave evidence that Majola was laying on his back when he was allegedly shot in the face, and not the way that Putuzo had described the incident.

Putuzo, however, stuck to his evidence, saying he had watched Dylan shoot Majola and saw him falling to the ground with his hands in the air.

When asked about the ID parade, Putuzo said he had identified Dylan by his face and weight and described him as chubby.

He told the court that he did not know Dylan had appeared in court before the ID parade, and he did not see any videos or pictures of the court appearances.

The trial continues.