He was giving evidence at the Francistown High Court in a case in which Mandla Ngubevane is charged with murdering Jeffrey Morumi Khali, by burning him with petrol at Tonota in 1998.
Serapelo told the court that he had not seen the accused taking the petrol container. He only witnessed the part where the contents of the container were splashed on the deceased’s body.
“I did not see him collecting the container as I was dancing some distance from where the incident happened. I did not even see the face of the person who was pouring the contents on to the deceased. I only saw his back when he turned and went inside the caravan where we were buying beer from,” he said.
During cross-examination by the defence counsel, Charles Tlagae, the witness told the court that may be the police who recorded the statement did not hear him properly.
Tlagae read a police statement signed by the witness after the incident in 1998, which contradicted what he told the court yesterday.
“That man (Mandla) went on to the stall and came back with a container which he shook and emptied on to the deceased,” the police statement said.
“I am telling you what I saw and I have not seen the accused taking the container,” Serapelo said in court yesterday.
He added that he is not aware of how the deceased caught fire because he was some distance away and there were many people on the scene.
“As I was still reeling from the shock of what was happening, I tried to approach Morumi and suddenly I saw him engulfed by flames. People were chasing him and he ran in panic. I ran to the other direction and saw him near a police van after the flames were put off,” he said.
Tlagae took the witness back to the 1998 statement that he made before the police, which read in part: “The drops on the ground caught fire and followed to where Morumi was standing and he was set alight.”
He denied having said that and told the court that he could not have seen the drops because he was far away.
Serapelo said that although they were drinking a concoction of beers from 8pm till 3am, they were not drunk when the incident took place around 4am.
He said he was not aware if the accused exchanged any words with the deceased, as they were strangers to each other. He added that the two met when the accused was asking for a cigarette from the deceased’s friend, Kgosi.
The court heard that when the deceased tried to get hold of Kgosi, his hand was warded off by the accused but they did not exchange words.
He told the court that he got to know the accused’s name at the police station, when recording a statement. The case is before the Francistown High Court Judge John Mosojane. Keneilwe Lephalo represents the state.
