Weepy witness admits to lying to court
Judge questions discrepancies in evidence
HE hotel receptionist who claims he had to make sure the murder of Swedish honeymooner Anni Hindocha went according to plan broke down after asking the Western Cape High Court to give him a breather yesterday.
Monde Mbolombo was under cross-examination by Francois van Zyl, SC, for British businessman Shrien Dewani, who is accused of orchestrating Anni’s murder while the couple were on honeymoon in Cape Town in November 2010.
Since Thursday, Van Zyl has been probing Mbolombo about the role he played in the alleged plot to kill Anni, and his knowledge of how the plan was to be executed.
He was confronted about discrepancies in versions before the court. At one point, Van Zyl told him he was a liar.
Van Zyl suggested that a statement he made earlier this year had been tailored to suit the evidence of one of the other men involved in the conspiracy.
Mbolombo may be at risk of being charged with murder if the court finds he has not been a truthful and satisfactory witness and refuses to grant him indemnity from prosecution.
When he began testifying on Thursday, he was warned that he needed to tell the truth.
At one stage in his testimony, he told Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso that he wanted the court to know he was telling the truth.
He was calm and collected as he gave his evidence-inchief.
But after more than two hours of cross-examination, he turned to Judge Traverso and said: “I just can’t think… because I’m tired now. I’m confusing things.”
He shook his head, leaned against the side of the witness stand and asked for a 15-minute break.
He left the courtroom and
Tbroke down.
The case resumed at 2.15pm and when Judge Traverso told Mbolombo that he should let her know if he was unable to continue.
Mbolombo allegedly acted as the middleman in the murder plot.
It is alleged that Dewani approached taxi driver Zola Tongo to find a hitman, and that he sought advice from Mbolombo.
Mbolombo recruited Mziwamadoda Qwabe, who brought Xolile Mngeni on board.
Tongo and Qwabe are serving 18 and 25 years in prison respectively, after entering into plea agreements with the State. Mngeni, who has since died, was sentenced to life imprisonment.
After the adjour nment, Mbolombo continued to explain that his role was to introduce Tongo and Qwabe, and to make sure everything went according to plan.
He attended a meeting with the men just hours before the killing because he was “curious” as to how the plan would be executed.
“To do what with that information … on behalf of who?” Judge Traverso asked.
But Mbolombo insisted that it was “just something that came from me”.
He told Van Zyl that, as part of his duty, the men would call him if they could not get hold of each other.
“Why? What has it got to do with you?” Judge Traverso asked.
But Mbolombo said that it had nothing to do with him, and that he chose to make sure that “things go as planned”.
He agreed when the judge asked if he decided on his own that he would take the lead.
However, it later emerged that he knew very little about the finer details of the plan.
Mbolombo testified that he had decided to take on the burden of overseeing the plot because he expected to be paid.
On Thursday, he told the court that he was in financial difficulty at the time and didn’t think of how precious a life was when he agreed to find a hitman.
According to Mbolombo, Tongo told them that the hit was at the request of a man who wanted his wife killed, and that the killing should look like a hijacking.
Dewani shook his head as he listened.
Mbolombo said that while they were in the car, Tongo received a call and told them it was Shrien Dewani.
However, Van Zyl put it to him that cellphone records before the court showed that Tongo received no incoming calls during that time. He could not explain this. Van Zyl also confronted him with evidence he had given in Mngeni’s trial, pointing out that it contradicted his evidence in the current trial.
Mbolombo explained that he had lied to that court as he was scared of being imprisoned.
But Van Zyl pointed out: “Like you told this court … You told the previous court: ‘I am so sorry. I was untruthful in my first statement (to police).’ Whilst, in fact, it was a lie within a lie… Is this promise similar to the one you made to the previous court or not?”
Cross-examination continues on Monday.