Palesa Madiba’s alleged killer denies that he confessed to ‘crushing’ her

The man accused of killing University of Johannesburg (UJ) student Palesa Madiba disputes a witness’s testimony that he allegedly confessed to “crushing” her.

“That’s a lie, we never went to a party at Kliptown, we never slept in the car after the party. He never asked me such a question about Palesa – no, that’s not true,” Dumisani Mkhwanazi said when he took the stand on Thursday.

Mkhwanazi is on trial in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, facing charges of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, defeating the administration of justice, and the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. He previously pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Madiba went missing in 2013 after a sleepover at the home of her friend, Tshidi Mkhwanazi, in Phiri, Soweto.

Tshidi is the accused’s niece.

Madiba’s remains were discovered in a shallow grave behind Tshidi’s home on 16 December 2015 after a neighbour noticed an arm protruding from the ground.

A witness, who has been a friend of the accused [Mkhwanazi] for 20 years, told the court on Tuesday that Mkhwanazi allegedly made an admission to him that he “crushed” Madiba.

Richard Mahlangu previously alleged to the court: “I did see the accused at a party, we left the party and went to Kliptown. We got there, we slept inside the car. I woke up, he was also awake, then I asked him. I asked him what happened to Palesa. He got upset. I asked again, for the second time, and then he said he crushed her.”

Mahlangu told the court this conversation allegedly occurred a few weeks after he saw, on the news, that Madiba was missing.

He, however, only made a statement to the police on 18 December 2015, two days after Madiba’s remains were found.

Mahlangu’s testimony was consistent with the findings emanating from a report on Madiba’s skeletal remains.

News24 reported that Lawrence Hill, of the Wits Department of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, testified that Madiba’s remains had injuries consistent with blunt force trauma, which could have been caused by a “crush or some form of blow to the area”.

The matter has been postponed to 1 December 2020 for closing arguments.

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