- Breaks down into tears as he relates how he shot Gamedze
Mbabane – Witness accomplice Mbuso ‘Ncaza’ Nkosi has told the High Court that he had to choose between his family and businessman Victor ‘Maradona’ Gamedze. Giving his testimony before Judge Nkosinathi Maseko, Nkosi, who is the man who pulled the trigger of the gun that killed Victor Gamedze, alleged that Shongwe threatened to kill his first-born child and pregnant girlfriend if he refused to kill Gamedze.
He said, “Shongwe called me and said he knew where my first born stayed, attended school and what grade he was doing. He also told me that he knew that my girlfriend was pregnant and where she stayed. “Nkosi told the court that this transpired the day after he had turned down Shongwe’s proposition to kill Gamedze for a sum of E80 000.
Narrating the events that led to the day of the murder, the South African national, who is also serving a 10-year sentence in his home country on an attempted murder charge, said he was excited to receive a phone call from one Farouk for a job he had organised.
“In January jobs are scarce, I was happy to be told there was a job we could do as I was in need of money. When I arrived at Farouk’s workshop the following day, he was not there. I called him and he told me to meet up with Shongwe and I did. He was in the company of another man who identified himself as Charlie who I later learned was ‘Dzodzo’. Shongwe said he had a different kind of job to the one we usually do. He said he wanted me to kill someone who was giving him trouble running his drugs business. I turned down the offer and told him that we did not spill blood but we only deal in armed robbery,” he said.
Nkosi continued to explain that Shongwe did not take kindly to his refusal to do the job. He made threats to the effect that he did not know who he was dealing with. The following morning Nkosi claims Shongwe threatened his family if he did not proceed with the job he had been offered.
“I was frightened, I called Farouk and returned to his workshop. I asked Siphiwe (‘Tata’ Ngubane) to accompany me to Farouk’s place. I told him that we have been offered a job but did not tell him about the plan to kill Gamedze,” he said.
Nkhosi alleged that should he have told Ngubane of the plot to kill Gamedze, he would have turned him down because that was not the kind of business, they were involved in. He said he did not even tell his friend about the threats because it would have been easier for Ngubane to realize that it was not the usual kind of job they were to undertake.
Nkosi said Ngubane was under the impression that they were here in Eswatini to rob Gamedze.
“Shongwe gave us E10 000 to buy a stolen car for the job, however, we negotiated and ended up buying a Toyota Yaris with E6500.” It is the same vehicle that they drove to Eswatini after making duplicates of number plates from a vehicle parked in an undisclosed garage. He also amazed the court when he explained that he had no travelling documents and he managed to pass through the border gate with Shongwe’s assistance from dealings with the customs and immigration officers at the border.
“Dzodzo’ and Siphiwe used the illegal crossing point for us to meet at a nearby shopping complex on the Eswatini side. We then met Shongwe who drove in a black SUV Mercedes similar to a BMW X5 in it’s make. He alighted from the car, handing over to Dzodzo’ two guns wrapped in a towel cloth and in a plastic bag. They were to be used for the job,” he said.
Nkosi said they were booked in a guesthouse but they arrived late so he and Ngubane slept inside the car and Dzodzo’ slept on the veranda. He explained that they arrived on a Thursday evening, went to look for Gamedze on Friday and Saturday but could not find him. He also highlighted they had to go buy a few clothes at Pep Stores and food at Pick n Pay as well as Solanis Shisanyama.
At Solanis, Nkosi narrated on they meet two ladies who worked at the place and started proposing love.
“I received a phone call from Sipho Shongwe on Saturday evening informing me that he knew where Gamedze could be found the next day. Shongwe and Dzodzo’ then left to arrange for our escape route once the job had been done. On the Saturday evening, I returned to Solanis to buy a bottle of Hennessy. Siphiwe asked me to return with the girl that he had proposing love to the previous day but she refused. I left with my bottle and went back to the guesthouse.”
He continued, “At the stadium, Dzodzo’ was to hug the target person for me to identify him and he did. The target person looked at me while seated at the stadium as if he suspected what we wanted to do while I was seated with a young girl and her brother who sold some items at the stadium. After the match, I followed the target and saw him boarding his vehicle. I quickly called Siphiwe and Dzodzo’ to tell them that the target person was leaving. They quickly arrived as they were having a few drinks not very far from the stadium. We followed him in Dzodzo’s Polo. At Ezulwini, he took a turn towards the filling station. Dzodzo’ said it was then that the job had to be done. He gave me the gun. I alighted from the car and he went to quickly remove the number plates of the vehicle. When I reached Victor Gamedze, I shot him twice in the head.”
That was when Nkosi broke down into tears as the court was silent.
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