Africa-Press – South-Africa. The four men accused of killing Mthokozisi Ntumba will have to wait until Tuesday morning to find out if they will still face charges of murder and attempted murder.
Tshephisho Kekana, 27, Cidraas Motseothatha, 43, Madimetja Legodi, 37, and Victor Mohammed, 51, appeared in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Monday.
They have brought an application in terms of Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act to be discharged.
The accused argued the State had failed to prove there was a case to answer, adding no court could possibly convict them.
Ntumba was killed in Braamfontein in March 2021 during student protests over historical debt.
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He had just left a consultation at a clinic when he was shot dead, allegedly by four police officers.
The State alleged three students, who were waiting outside the Johannesburg Institute of Engineering and Technology College, were also shot and injured that day.
Advocate Thomas Mahope, for Kekana, told the court the State never “presented any eyewitness who saw the deceased being shot by the accused on 10 March 2021 at De Beers Street”.
He also accused the investigating officer of seeking to “mislead the court with her unfounded allegations”.
Mahope said the investigating officer allegedly identified the accused from a video that was not handed over to the court as an exhibit and therefore the court should disregard that piece of evidence.
Meanwhile, advocate Emmanuel Netshipise, for Motseothatha, argued the State alleged the accused “acted in furtherance of common purpose” but said throughout the trial the State had not dealt with the question of “common purpose”.
“There is no evidence tendered before you that there was an agreement between the accused.”
Advocate Benny Ndaba, for Legodi, said in the video, which was played in court, no officer was seen firing shots.
Prosecutor advocate Evelyn Moseki asked the court to dismiss the application.
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Moseki said there was a prima facie case against the accused.
In her heads of argument, she argued there were no other police officers at the crime scene during the shooting, except the accused.
Moseki said the accused were at the crime scene, shooting randomly.
“The legal representative of the accused argued that the accused were acting in accordance with the instructions of their commander, but they did not justify the conduct of the accused of shooting the deceased in count one, and victims in count two to four.”
Judgment is expected on Tuesday morning.
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