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Dumisani Mkhwanazi, the man tried for the alleged murder of Palesa Madiba, a UJ student, in 2013 (Papi Morake, Gallo Images).
- Matshidiso Mkhwanazi, a close friend of Palesa Madiba took the witness stand on Thursday.
- The friend told the court that she had left Madiba at her home on the morning of August 12.
- Matshidiso is the niece of Dumisani Mkhwanazi, the man accused of Madiba’s murder.
A close friend of Palesa Madiba, a murdered University of Johannesburg student, painted a picture of her last moments with the victim on August 12, 2013.
Matshidiso Mkhwanazi, affectionately known as Tshidi, took the witness stand at the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Thursday, where she testified in the murder trial of her uncle, Dumisani Mkhwanazi.
Mkhwanazi faces charges of murder, aggravated robbery, defeating the administration of justice and illegal possession of a firearm and live ammunition.
Madiba disappeared after going to a pajama party at Tshidi’s home in Phiri, Soweto, on August 9, 2013.
The trial of Dumisani Mkhwanazi, the man charged with the murder of UJ student Palesa Madiba, is now underway. Palesa’s friend Matshidiso Mkhwanazi is a witness for the state and is taking the stand to testify this morning. She is the niece of Dumisani. @ TeamNews24 pic.twitter.com/AxTZu4j44a
– Sesona Sestien Ngqakamba (@Sesona_Ngqaks) November 12, 2020
His body was found buried in a shallow grave behind Tshidi’s home on December 16, 2015.
READ | Palesa Madiba murder trial: Dumisani Mkhwanazi pleads not guilty
Testifying before Judge Prince Manyathi for just over two hours, Tshidi told the court that she and Madiba had been friends since elementary school.
Tshidi testified that she lived with her grandmother, Dumisani’s mother.
Dumisani occupied the one in the back rooms of the house, along with other tenants.
She said that Dumisani lived with his girlfriend, adding that he had access inside the house to bathe and eat.
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Tshidi told the court that, the weekend before August 12, Madiba had spent the weekend.
On Sunday August 11, Dumisani was watching soccer with friends.
He said that on Monday, August 12, his grandmother left for work around 06:30 and she left at 07:00.
He added that when he left, Madiba was making the bed, preparing to head to campus. Madiba attended UJ’s Soweto campus.
Dumisani had not gone to work
When asked if Dumisani was aware of their schedules and the times they would leave for work, Tshidi said yes, because she bathed and ate inside the main house.
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Tshidi said that when he left Madiba at home, he instructed her to leave the keys in the usual hiding place in the garden.
He added that upon arriving at work, he tried to call Madiba, but to his surprise, the cell phone went to voicemail.
Madiba was not the type to not answer his cell phone, which had been a purple Blackberry, the witness said.
“When I [later] arrived [back] at home, around 6:00 p.m., I found my grandmother. I think Dumisani came in an hour [afterwards],” she said.
When asked if he was in a position to establish whether Dumisani had gone to work that day, Tshidi said: “I learned that he did not go to work when I was talking to him and my grandmother about Palesa.
Tshidi told the court that Dumisani informed him that he had seen Madiba leave.
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She said that the next day, she and her grandmother tried to find out Madiba’s whereabouts from her relatives. To his surprise, they also did not know his whereabouts.
They then opened a missing persons case at the police station.
Tshidi told the court that there was no animosity between her and Dumisani. She had grown up before him, adding that she cared about him.
She testified that two years later, on December 16, 2015, they were absent when her grandmother received a call from neighbors and police that they had found a body inside her yard.
When they arrived, the scene was already cordoned off and they couldn’t see the skeleton.
When Dumisani’s lawyer, Dominic Thinani, questioned him and asked if he (Dumisani) was at the scene when the body was found, Tshidi said no.
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When they contacted Dumisani, he asked them to meet him at the police station, where they made statements and were questioned.
The State had to correct some facts during the cross-examination of Thinani, as it continued to mix dates and names.
The trial was postponed until Friday after Thinani said he had personal business to attend to.
The state is expected to bring 13 witnesses to trial.
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