‘My dad shot me’

The Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Monday heard how Information Technology specialist Muziwendoda (Muzi) Kunene allegedly shot his son Msebenziwenkosi, in November 2007.

Msebenziwenkosi told the court he was going towards the car parked in the driveway of Kunene’s house in Lynnwood when he heard a gunshot go off.

He was shot in the ear, with the bullet existing through his mouth.

Kunene, 46, is accused of attempting to murder his son on November 21, 2007.

It is alleged the son was shot to prevent him from testifying against his father in the kidnapping and murder case of Ballito estate agent Lynn Hume.

Kunene - who arrived at court surrounded by eight armed Correctional Service officials - is charged with defeating the ends of justice for allegedly making a false statement to the police.

He claimed he had been shot by two men in Pretoria on November 16, 2007, who had accused him of fraternising with the media.

Investigations indicated, however, that he apparently shot himself in the hand.

Kunene is serving a life sentence for the murder of Hume.

Msebenziwenkosi, who is in the witness protection programme, told the court he fell to the ground after his father fired the first shot and he (Muzi) fired two more shots at him, but missed.

“We wrestled for the firearm. I stood up and tried to run. I was running and falling at the same time.”

He told the court that he reached a house of a neighbour, who called an ambulance which took him to Kalafong Hospital near Atteridgeville.

There he was bandaged and given painkillers.

He was later transferred to the Pretoria Academic Hospital where he underwent surgery to reconstruct his jaw.

Msebenziwenkosi told the court he was told someone was looking for him at the hospital a day after he was admitted.

“I asked (that) person if the person (who was looking for me) wore glasses and whether he was light in complexion and was informed that this was the case. I concluded that it was my father,” he said.

Msebenziwenkosi said he decided to speak to a social worker at the hospital, after his father’s visit, about what had happened and later laid a charge with the police.

He told the court he moved away from KwaZulu-Natal at his father’s insistence.

Magistrate David Makhoba wanted to know why, and Msebenziwenkosi said this was because of “us having to run away from the police in a kidnapping and murder case. We were suspects in the case”, he said.

Msebenziwenkosi said he was convinced that his father wanted to kill him.

State Prosecutor Avinah Rampaparat wanted to know from Msebenziwenkosi why he was convinced his father wanted to kill him.

He said he was convinced his father wanted to kill him because he never fulfilled his promise to take him to a bus stop to catch a bus to Durban.

His father also took him to a secluded spot near the Coca Cola Dome in Joburg, he said.

Msebenziwenkosi told the court that his parents were divorced and that he had a brother and a sister, who has since died. - Pretoria News