Two men are trial in the Ntuzuma Magistrate’s Court for the murder of Isipingo policeman Warrant Officer Maqhawe Sithole, who was shot at while off duty in 2021.
Durban — The Ntuzuma Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday heard from a witness how he found an off-duty policeman on the ground wounded after hearing four shots ring out.
Warrant Officer Maqhawe Jerome Sithole, who worked at the Isipingo Pound, succumbed to his injuries two days after being shot at in Wolawola, Inanda, in June 2021.
Thembokwakhe Xulu, 23, and Nkululeko Ntuli, 25, are on trial accused of his murder and robbing him of his service pistol.
Xulu was arrested just days after the murder in Mayville, while Ntuli was arrested the following month in KwaMaphumulo and found in possession of the officer’s gun.
Xulu was also found in possession of a firearm when he was arrested.
The two remain behind bars as Xulu was refused bail and Ntuli abandoned his bail application following his arrest.
On the day Sithole was shot, he had been at Deon’s Mechanic playing pool and was allegedly attacked while leaving the establishment to talk to his fiancée, Thokoza Sibisi, who had arrived in her car.
While on the stand, State witness Siyaxola Welcome Manyoni told the court how he had been standing on his veranda that night.
He explained that he knew Sithole and his fiancée as the officer frequented the place to fix his cars.
Manyoni told the court that he had seen Sithole alight from Sibisi’s car and light a cigarette.
“I was about 75 to 100 metres away. He asked who are you people insulting my wife and at that point his wife drove off. He was speaking to two people, one short and the other tall. He was standing in between them,” he said.
Manyoni explained that the three men disappeared from his view at some point as they went in front of a cottage close to his home.
He said before they disappeared from his view he saw “sparks” and heard two shots ring out followed by silence and then another two shots.
“I could tell that he (Sithole) was injured because he was walking in a forward-leaning manner. The spark was between Sithole and the tall guy because the short one disappeared quickly around the corner. After they were gone, I approached Sithole and I found him holding his back, wounded. I found him near a house and I went to call Deon and he got there and rushed him to the hospital,” said Manyoni.
He explained to the court that due to poor lighting, he was not able to see the faces of the two men but could tell their height and that one was wearing a hooded red jacket.
The trial continues.
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