Some of the 14 suspects accused of killing eight young men in Zandspruit.
- An eyewitness implicated two of her neighbours in the Zandspruit mob justice attack.
- Ten men were brutally assaulted.
- Only two victims survived the ordeal.
An eyewitness testified that she saw a neighbour, armed with a tyre and a stick, and that he charged at the young men who were brutally attacked by a mob in Zandspruit.
Rose Mabusela testified in the Gauteng High Court sitting in Palm Ridge that, on 19 May 2021, she had just left the horrific scene and was heading home when she saw Mziwamangwane Witbooi, 43.
“He was carrying a tyre and a stick. He was walking to the soccer pitch, where the victims were being attacked,” said Mabusela.
When asked how she knew Witbooi, Mabusela responded that they were neighbours.
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“I have known Witbooi for between three to four years. He is popularly known as Tata. He was about 80 or 100 metres away from me. I was walking away from the scene, going home, when I saw him.
“Some of the deceased were burnt after they died. One of the deceased was my boyfriend, Johannes Moyo. We had dated for nearly five years when he was killed. We didn’t have a child,” Mabusela testified.
Second armed neighbour
She added that, before leaving the scene, she saw Peter Mufamadi at the soccer pitch, where the victims were being assaulted. He was also armed with a stick.
“Mufamadi is [also] my neighbour. I have known him for over three years. He used to come to my father, who is a loan shark, to borrow money. Mufamadi was there, where the victims were lying on the ground.
“Those victims were still moving at the time. He was among those beating the victims with knobkerries and other weapons. Other people at the soccer pitch were taking videos,” she said.
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It is alleged that, on 18 May 2021, a large group of Zandspruit residents kidnapped Moyo, Vusi Seapi, Mwezi Magida, Selaelo Mofumadi, Ntando Ndlovu, Lucky Shabalala, Obed Malley, Blessed Moyo, Thabang Malebe and Moses Kgatla.
The victims were woken from their homes, interrogated and assaulted. They were frog-marched to a gravel soccer pitch, where the brutal beatings continued. Paraffin and tyres were used to necklace the victims.
The scene after alleged mob justice in Zandspruit.
Four died at the scene, and four others succumbed to their injuries in hospitals.
Malebe and Kgatla survived the ordeal.
When News24 arrived at the time, the naked and severely assaulted victims were still on fire.
A large crowd and the police were nearby. Residents accused the victims of being behind criminal activities in the area.
Witnesses later identified the alleged perpetrators as Witbooi, 42, Mufamadi, 47, Tebogo Mabula, 43, Njabulo Zwane, 27, Phakiswa Tsengiswa, 36, Maxwell Mpofu, 27, Klaas Masemola, 44, Joshua Mabodze, 39, Alfred Mollo, 38, Everyone Moyo, 30, Phillemon Seemela, 36, Douglas Tshuma, 59, Charles Ramashia, 32, and Phiwe Khubeka, 32.
Tsengiswa, Seemela and Khubeka are out on R3 000 bail each.
Tsengiswa is the only woman among the accused.
The group is facing 14 counts of murder, 10 of kidnapping, two of attempted murder, one count of theft and three charges of housebreaking with intent to commit kidnapping and murder.
The trial is expected to resume on Wednesday.
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