Flabba’s brothers testify on the stand

The murder trial of Sindisiwe Precious Manqele started on 7 September at the Randburg Magistrates’ Court.

Manqele, the girlfriend of Nkululeko Habedi, former SA rap artist known as ‘Flabba’, is accused of his murder.

She pleaded not guilty and said she acted in self-defence.

The first witness, Luyanda Silupa, Flabba’s cousin, testified to events prior to the murder. He exclaimed in court, “I like her [Sindiswe Manqele] and I don’t know how she could have done this.”

Silupa resided in the same house that Flabba lived in during the time of the incident.

He went on to say that the argument between them had gone on for 30 minutes.

Among other things he described how Manqele ran out the room screaming, “I killed your brother by mistake.”

Defence attorney Norman Makhubela subjected Silupa to fierce cross-examination.

He challenged him endlessly on whether he heard any screaming during the argument or if there had been any physical confrontation.

“Did you hear the words, s**t, bi**h, wh**e or gold digger?”

He put to Silupa, “There must have been a serious commotion for you to have left your room, yes or no.”

Cross-examination went on for most of the day and Silupa became increasingly agitated and visibly upset, many times with tears streaming down his face.

The final witness for the day was Mpho Motsoari, also a resident at the same house in Alexandra.

He testified that when Flabba returned home, he was happy but that the couple had been fighting. He added that he [Flabba] was ”going to sort things out with her [Manqele] and explain the reason for the fighting later.”

Motsoari also testified that he heard Flabba say, “This bi**h just stabbed me.”

He added that he saw Flabba lying on the floor helplessly, facing up, with Manqele and Silupa performing CPR on him.

The trial will continue on 8 September in the Randburg Magistrates’ Court.

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Flabba murder case starts in Randburg Magistrates’ Court