Mbabane – A State witness in the murder trial of Matsapha businessman Sifiso Simelane told the High Court that first accused Sipho Zikalala slit the victim’s throat during a brutal attack in a bush near Malkerns after repeatedly stabbing him while demanding money.
Selby Sgaga Dlamini, who was initially charged in the matter before turning State witness, testified that he held Simelane’s legs while Zikalala carried out the fatal assault on January 20, 2024.
According to Dlamini, Simelane had been abducted from his workplace in Matsapha, assaulted and restrained with sellotape around his hands, legs and mouth before being driven to a bush near the Malkerns Research Station.
“When we arrived in the bush, Zikalala and Lindokuhle Dlamini dragged Simelane out of the car and took him into the bush while Njabulo Magagula and I remained in the vehicle for a short while,” Dlamini told the court.
He said he later followed them and found Zikalala interrogating Simelane about the whereabouts of his money while repeatedly stabbing him with a knife that had allegedly been found inside the businessman’s vehicle.
“I found Zikalala questioning him about where his money was while stabbing him. Simelane’s hands were tied behind his back and his legs were still bound with sellotape,” he testified.
Dlamini said Simelane cried out about his children as the attack continued.
“As he was being stabbed, Simelane kept crying out about his children. Zikalala then slit his throat with the knife. While he was struggling to breathe and fighting for his life, I used his belt to tie his legs because the sellotape had become loose during the struggle,” he told the court.
The witness testified that blood splashed onto Zikalala and co-accused Lindokuhle Dlamini during the attack.
He further alleged that after the killing, Zikalala threw the knife into the bush. However, he advised him to retrieve it because it could later be used as evidence.
“I told him we should look for the knife because his fingerprints would be on it since he was not wearing gloves when he committed the offence,” Dlamini testified.
According to the witness, after recovering the knife they returned to the vehicle where Njabulo Magagula had remained.
Dlamini said Magagula asked whether Simelane was dead, to which Zikalala allegedly replied: “Ifile lenja.”
The group then allegedly drove to a nearby canal where Zikalala and Lindokuhle washed blood from their hands before proceeding to Simelane’s home in Bethany.
Dlamini told the court that the accused used Simelane’s car keys and remote-control gate opener to gain access to the property, where they allegedly stole several items from the house.
The witness also detailed how the alleged plot was conceived days before the murder.
He testified that on January 18, 2024, his sister-in-law, Bongiwe Nokuphila Nhlabatsi, contacted him about what she described as an opportunity to make quick money. He said she was accompanied by Nonhlanhla Magagula, an employee at Simelane’s hotel, Matsapha Gallery.
According to Dlamini, the pair informed him that a businessman from Bethany was believed to have more than E100,000 intended for lobola negotiations and that they wanted to obtain the money.
The following day, Dlamini said he met Njabulo Magagula at Gables in Ezulwini, where discussions allegedly took place on how to execute the plan.
The court heard that Magagula allegedly devised a plan to lure Simelane by claiming he had secured a tyre supply deal. Simelane and Magagula were reportedly involved in a tyre business supplying tyres to truck and bus operators.
Dlamini testified that he was instructed to pose as a site manager at a location where tyres were supposedly going to be offloaded.
After meeting Simelane and discussing the fictitious delivery, the group allegedly began planning how to kill him.
The witness further testified that later that evening they returned to the premises after spending time drinking in Ngwane Park.
According to Dlamini, they overpowered a security guard at the site and took his uniform, which Dlamini then wore so that Simelane would not recognise him.
When Simelane later arrived after being informed that the tyre shipment was nearing Eswatini, the group allegedly attacked him.
“I approached him from behind, choked him and overpowered him. We tied his hands and legs with sellotape,” Dlamini testified.
He said Simelane was then forced into a vehicle and driven to Malkerns where he was killed.
Dlamini also told the court that a woman who was inside Simelane’s vehicle at the time of the kidnapping was not assaulted, although her cellphone was taken.
Following Dlamini’s testimony, the court revoked the bail previously granted to Lindokuhle Dlamini, Bongiwe Nokuphila Nhlabatsi and Njabulo Magagula. The three were remanded in custody pending the completion of the trial.
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