Durban — The Durban High Court heard on Thursday how two men accused of killing Minenhle Mkhize, an ANC eThekwini ward 103 councillor, followed him.
The pair standing trial are Mxolisi Gcabashe and Ntokozo Ndlela. Mkhize was gunned down at his home in Cliffdale while seated in his car last year. He died at the scene as a result of multiple gunshot wounds.
A State witness, Thobile Ngcongwana, who is a senior clerk at the SAPS who analyses data, came to court with cellphone records which proved that the accused and Mkhize were not so far away from each other on the day of the incident. Ngcongwana said she was asked by the investigating officer to analyse the movements of the three on the fateful day.
Ngcongwana said the cellphones of Gcabashe and Ndlela were connected to towers close to Mkhize’s home.
“Between 7pm and 8.30pm both the accused were sharing the same tower. At around 7.16pm and 7.17pm Mkhize was also connected to the same tower as the accused,” said Ngcongwana.
She said the data showed that the three people were together. Either in the same car or following each other.
“The accused were together, and Mkhize was alone or with whoever he was with in the car,” she said.
Ngcongwana added that the cellphones of the accused after the incident were not connected to towers in Cliffdale, but at KwaMashu. Advocate Louis Barnard, representing the pair, argued that there was no evidence his clients were following Mkhize, and there was a gap of 20 minutes where it did not show where they were.
However, Ngcongwana insisted there was evidence and further said that there was a time when Gcabashe’s phone was not connected to any tower, but said that the usage of your phone determines the towers you connect to. It also depends on the type of phone you are using and where you are.
“There is evidence the accused were in the same area with the deceased, and close by. Their phones were connecting on the towers close by, and at one stage they all were connected to one tower with the deceased. Furthermore, whenever Gcabashe’s phone connected to a tower, it connected to the same tower as Ndlela’s,” she said.
Ngcongwana said that when she was analysing data she found that in the afternoon at about 4 on the day Mkhize was killed the accused met and were connected to towers where Mkhize was until he was killed.
The case was postponed to Monday to give the State a chance to solve its challenges with the remaining witnesses.
Gcabashe and Ndlela are facing charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, unlawful possession of a semi-automatic firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition. Gcabashe faces other charges that include theft.
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