Judgment has been postponed for a Grahamstown army officer tried for culpable homicide following the death of a runner on the Cradock Road a year ago.
Judgment has been postponed for a Grahamstown army officer tried for culpable homicide following the death of a runner on the Cradock Road a year ago.
The case, which has been clouded by several reports of threatening behaviour towards reporters and photographers outside the court-room by the accused's supporters, also saw a police officer come under fire for preventing people from taking photographs at the scene of the accident, on 25 April last year.
But Army Corporal, Zingisile Ephraim Nikelo, must come back to the Grahamstown Magistrate's Court on 16 May to hear the verdict of Magistrate Louis Claassen, who had lost his voice last week and couldn't read the thick judgment last week. On Thursday the court heard that Nikelo and his friends had prayed before they left work at 6 SA Infantry Batallion, at the Grahamstown Military Base that Sunday, three weeks after Easter.
Nikelo, 41, drove into former IT Solutions founding partner and barefoot runner, Dave Hanton, 44.
Hanton is believed to have been training for an Ironman event on the Cradock Road that leads west out of town, past the army base.
Asked by defence lawyer, Advocate Mzuphela Yeko, on Wednesday afternoon, at what speed he had been driving on the day, the accused conceded he had been driving above the speed limit.
On Thursday, during cross-examination, State Prosecutor, Zukile Mdolomba, told a police officer, central to the case, that she was a liar.
Constable Vuyiswa Mphumanto, of the Aliwal North SAPS, was the first police officer at the scene of the incident.
She had prevented people from taking photographs at the scene and refused to give Nikelo's identity to the investigating officers.
Mphumanto said it had not been her duty to identify the accused. This, she said, was the duty of the Grahamstown SAPS.
Mphumanto said there were a number of uniformed soldiers at the scene, and that she had been protecting the accused from potential danger.
But Mdolomba, suggesting Mphumanto was lying, pointed out that the accused was already safe, having most of his colleagues on the scene. Mphumanto looked down at this point.
Meanwhile, journalists reporting on the trial have been targeted by Nikelo's supporters outside the court.
Makana Moon reporter, Mike Louw, was threatened on Wednesday by the group, believed to be the accused's colleagues.
In his regular blog, Louw says of his experience, "I’ve never seen a bunch of people who plead not guilty – then go out and behave as if they are guilty as sin for three days at court."
He goes on to say, "But the corporal (Nikelo) has appeared every day with a Jet-dressed mob at his side, whose only function seems to have been to either try and rip cameras away from this journalist and today, a Grocott’s photographer, or duck and dive.
"It’s not like they are being hounded – one little reporter carrying a piffling mik-en-druk and today the student photographer."
Grocott's Mail photographer, Ettione Ferreira, told Grocott's Mail how she had been intimidated by the Nikelo's friends when she wanted to take pictures of him.
When Grocott's Mail called the Officer Commanding at 6 SA Infantry Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Sivuyile Sydney Ntsunguzi, to complain about the threatening behaviour towards reporters, he said, "First of all you must know that the accused left 6SAI almost immediately after the incident, so, the guy is no longer working here with us and it's very difficult for me to say anything about him."
Alerted to the presence of the accused's local colleagues, Ntsunguza said there was nothing he could do without hard evidence.
"If you can show me who was there, I can try finding out from inside if they were supposed to be at work or not. You must know that these guys have leave and off days, but if you have evidence, it's worth finding out."
The judgment by Magistrate Louis Claassen is reserved for 16 May at Regional Court 2, Grahamstown Magistrate's Court.
