The pre-trial conference for three men accused of gunning down former ANC deputy chairperson in KwaZulu-Natal, Zibuse Mlaba has been set for the new year.
The ANC veteran and former chief of KwaXimba in Camperdown, was shot and killed in the morning of October 21, 2021, outside his office at Wareing Shopping Centre.
The accused Mthobisi Tsebang Dubazana (30) from uMlazi, Nhlanhla Lungelo Hlongwa (30) from the Masukwana informal settlement in Pietermaritzburg, and Fortune Dlamini (29) from Georgedale in Mpumalanga, Hammarsdale made a brief appearance at the Camperdown Regional court earlier this week.
Senior state prosecutor advocate Elvis Gcweka handed over copies of the docket to the defence and asked for the court to postpone the matter to February for the pre-trial conference. As usual the court was packed with Mlaba family members.
The accused have been in custody after they abandoned their bail application in October saying that they feared for their lives.
However, accused one Dubazana who was the first to be arrested applied for bail in August but it was denied by Camperdown Magistrates court.
The investigating officer from the national political task team told the court that should Dubazana be released on bail his life would be in danger as two of the people he was with during the commission of the offence have since been shot and killed.
Another accomplice has turned state witness.
The investigating officer said he had to investigate who the other people were involved in the planning, as it seemed that there were more people involved as this matter involved disputes about the land.
The investigating officer further said that a VW white polo sedan that was registered in May 2021 under Dubazana’s name was used as a gateway car on the day Mlaba was killed. He said Dubazana was the driver.
“After the commission of the offence the four perpetrators, including Dubazana, went and booked a B&B, where they spent a night and the records of the B&B register confirm such allegations,” said the officer.
He told the court that the firearms used to kill Mlaba were destroyed.
“The 204 witness told us and made a statement that the guns used to kill Mlaba were destroyed and he was amongst the people who destroyed them,” he added.
The state alleges that cellphone records show that three days before October 21, Dubazana and his team had followed Mlaba.
