Durban — The Durban High Court will hand down its judgment next week for the man accused of killing ANC councillor Minenhle Mkhize in Cliffdale.
The State said it was confident that the evidence it had proved that Mxolisi Gcabashe from KwaNyuswa was the one who killed Mkhize last year.
Gcabashe is charged with theft, unlawful possession of firearms, two counts of unlawful possession of ammunition, conspiracy to commit murder, murder and unlawful possession of a semi-automatic firearm.
State prosecutor advocate Elvis Gcweka said that when Gcabashe was on the witness stand he contradicted himself.
“The accused said they never passed the Mkhize residence, and by the same token he said he does not know the deceased’s home,” said Gcweka.
He said the daughter of the deceased, Noluthando Malinga, who was a witness, made a mistake in her testimony by saying the man who shot her father was wearing a striped T-shirt. The other witness, who is in witness protection, said Gcabashe was wearing a striped jacket on the fateful day.
“Although this evidence is not the same, it does not taint the evidence provided by the State witness in witness protection,” said Gcweka.
He said not every error made by a witness affected their credibility. He emphasised that the evidence led by Malinga and the protected witness matched.
Furthermore, Gcweka said that when defence advocate Louis Barnard brought the striped jacket to court, the witness did not hesitate to say that it was the jacket worn by Gcabashe on the day he allegedly killed Mkhize.
Barnard said there was an opportunity to confront the witness about why he said the jacket was striped, but it never happened. Gcweka said this witness was honest and reliable and provided evidence coherently.
“He even said that there were points that were incorrect, he did not wait for cross-examination, he provided an explanation for his shortcomings,” said Gcweka.
He said the witness’s testimony corroborated this. He said Malinga told the court that the gun that killed her father was small. The witness who is being protected said the gun that Gcabashe was carrying on that day was small.
“The evidence brought before this court shows Gcabashe committed the crime,” said Gcweka.
Barnard said his client was not given enough time to call witnesses for the count of theft of a white Hilux Legend 5.
“The State failed to prove that Gcabashe committed the crime of theft,” he said.
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