Rhodes Park murder trial resumes

After a week of delays, the trial of three men accused in the Rhodes Park rapes and murders resumed after one of the accused was discharged from hospital.

Johannesburg - After a week of delays, the trial of three men accused of raping two women and drowning their husbands in a lake at Rhodes Park resumed on Monday after one of the accused was discharged from hospital.

Last week advocate Robert Xaba for Edmore Ndlovu (23), told the high court sitting at the Palm Ridge M Magistrate's Court that his client was admitted to Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital after he complained of chest pains which affected his breathing.

A much trimmer looking Ndlovu, his co-accused Thabo Nkala (25) and Mduduzi Lawrence Mathibela (32), who are accused of attacking the two couples, appeared composed and kept their eyes wondering and bending their heads during the court proceedings.

Neon Da Fonseca Fernandes was another witness called to testify during the trial. He told the court that his house was installed with CCTV cameras and he was in possession of footage which showed parts of what took place at the park. “Patrick Matthew came to my place and told me he's an investigating officer and asked to view my CCTV footage. He managed to find what he was looking for and he told me that my camera date was wrong as it captured the event on the 18th instead of the 17th.”

Fernandes explained to the court that he wasn't aware that his camera's date was a day ahead because he never checked his camera as there wasn't any need. “Patrick downloaded the footage he wanted and I also kept a copy from myself,” he said.

Mlamleli Batakathi, a police sergeant who drove the women to the hospital after they were raped, said he couldn't get much information from them as they seemed traumatised.

Batakathi also confirmed that one of the victims wasn't examined by a doctor because she had informed them that she wasn't raped. “They were not talking a lot, it was hard to get information from them because they looked a bit shaken. They kept asking about their husbands and wanted to know where they were.”

Ndlovu, Nkala and Mathibela were allegedly part of a 12-man gang that accosted and robbed the couples on 17 October 2015. The gang forced the husbands into the lake where they drowned and sexually assaulted and raped their wives. Both women have already told the court how they were attacked as their husbands drowned in the nearby lake.

The other suspects are still on the run.

Reports suggest that two others have been arrested in neighbouring Zimbabwe, where they are awaiting extradition to South Africa.

African News Agency