Murder accused acquitted

Patricia Edwin | Wednesday February 19, 2014 17:38

Makhwade said that it did not seem like the two men planned and intended to kill the deceased person.

 Makhwade was reading judgment in a case in which Akanyang Ramontsho and Kagiso Dabakwe were on trial for allegedly killing Otsile Lekang in 2009 at Setoto Settlement in the Central District.

What started as a community get-together (Letsema) ended up with someone dead as a fight broke out between the accused persons and the deceased.

Eventually other people, including the family of the deceased joined the melee with sympathisers of the accused, and fought alongside the accused.

According to evidence before court the situation became messy and bloody and several people had to be carried to the hospital before the deceased’s body was collected.  Makhwade said that what was apparent was the fact that the second accused was trying to assist the first accused when he was being over-powered by the deceased.

The judge said that though both accused persons hit the deceased with a log it was not clear which one was the fatal blow.

Information before court was that the two accused persons allegedly beat the deceased to death but Makhwade said it was not that simple.

“Based on the evidence, before the family of the deceased person joined in the fight, his (the deceased’s)  father stabbed the second accused person with a knife,” he said.  The deceased person’s father was tried and convicted. Makhwade said that the deceased’s family were untruthful in court and they joined in the fight and caused the bloody mess.

He said that the sister of the deceased was also not a credible witness as she denied everything even the evidence of other family members.

An independent witness who was at the community get-together and also at the ‘Kgalagadi’ shebeen told the court that the first accused and the deceased started arguing in the fields but did not get physical.

Later when everyone moved to the shebeen, he saw the two fighting physically with the deceased on top of the accused.

“Seeing that the deceased had overpowered his friend, the second accused person picked up a log and hit the deceased on the back of the head and then the first accused person picked the same log and hit the deceased on the same spot,” he said.

He further said that the family of the deceased had already joined in the fight and the first accused continued to assault the family and other people with the stick.

Others claimed that they were kicked and beaten, others were beaten with the log and others were stabbed with a knife.

Justice Makhwade said that when the second accused picked up the log to hit the deceased, he did not know what the first would have done later with it after he had left.  “He could not have known that the first accused person would also take the log and hit the deceased person,” he said.