Police finally question SK Khoza on assault charges
‘The Queen’ star, sister say cashier ‘attacked’ them
The Queen actor Sthembiso Khoza’s sister claims her brother was assaulted by a female cashier at a Sasol garage when they went to the forecourt to buy pies and flowers for the family.
This is according to the actor’s sister, Nonkululeko Khoza, who was questioned on Wednesday by Midrand police detectives who are investigating a case of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm against her and another one of crimen injuria against her brother.
Nonkululeko and Sthembiso have been hunted by the police after cashier Sifiso Ngcobo reported them to the police last month, alleging that the TV star had insulted her and his sister had hit her in the face with a scanner after an altercation over the packaging of a bouquet of flowers he had bought from the garage.
When questioned by the police, Nonkululeko refuted Ngcobo’s allegations that she hit her with a scanner during the scuffle that left her with a deep cut below her left eye and a bruise on her cheek.
She alleged that it was, in fact, Ngcobo who assaulted Sthembiso, fondly known as SK, with the flowers when he asked her to put them in a plastic bag for him.
“She then put the flowers on Sthembiso’s face, beating him with the flowers on his face.”
“I then told her to stop beating my brother with the flowers on his face [and that] she must respect the man. She started swearing at Sthembiso. I never assaulted anyone,” she told the police.
She added that security would have been called to the garage to apprehend her if she had indeed assaulted Ngcobo.
Giving his statement, Sthembiso also said neither he nor his sister assaulted Ngcobo, but admitted that he swore back at her when she insulted him.
He said all hell broke loose when Ngcobo shoved the flowers he bought in his face when he asked her to put them in a plastic bag for him.
“I asked to put them in the packet and she … pushed the flowers in my face three times and my sister came and asked her to respect me as a man,” he told the police.
When Ngcobo said Sthembiso called him by his character’s name in the Mzansi Magic soapie, he lost it and warned her to refrain from doing so and asked her to instead call him by his birth name. “She called me by my character name and I turned around and told her my name is Sthembiso Khoza. She said it again and my sister said that my name is Sthembiso Khoza,” he told police. But the two suspects’ version of events, added the source, was contradicted by eyewitness Welcome Masuku. Masuku, according to the tipster, told the police that the actor and his sister were aggressive towards Ngcobo. He further said he witnessed Sthembiso swearing at Ngcobo and Nonkululeko smashing her face with a scanner.
Gauteng police spokesperson Kay Makhubela confirmed that police had questioned the suspects. He said the cases were referred to the NPA for a decision whether to prosecute.
I asked to put them in the packet ... he pushed them in my face