Friend of Nkululeko ‘Flabba’ Habedi, Nkululeko Chauke took the stand on 9 September at Randburg Magistrates’ Court on the third day of the Flabba trial.
Chauke was present at the Sands Club in Sandton the evening before Flabba was stabbed in the heart and killed on 9 March.
Chauke, his girlfriend ‘Maseko’, Habedi, the accused Sindiswe Manqele were all present at the club. Chauke recalled how Manqele became ‘sulky’ when girls approached the two men on the evening.
After such, they argued on and off throughout the night. At the club, Chauke said, they drank about four beers, a few glasses of vodka and two shots of tequila. He confirmed that Flabba and Manqele smoked marijuana an hour after arriving at the venue.
Toward the end of the night Chauke said, “The accused and Maseko were talking to two guys at the entrance of the club when Flabba and Chauke approached them to leave. He said Manqele commented, “You can flirt with girls but when I talk to guys it’s time to go?” Flabba replied in IsiZulu, “How could you talk to me like that in front of other people.”
Chauke left the couple to fetch the car they all arrived in and found them still sitting in the same spot where he had left them. He also confirmed that the accused Manqele was wearing a purple top that evening.
Defence attorney Norman Makhubela counter-argued his statement in which he said Flabba would not let Manqele leave without him or use a taxi service where he took her phone away from her. He said Flabba had aggressively moved her and, in doing so, she sprained her ankle. “She was sitting down in her resistance not to go and to get her phone back,” said Makhubela.
The group then went to MacDonalds where according to Chauke, Flabba had said, “I’v lost my appetite,” and in retort Manqele said, “Don’t be thinking that I’m giving you my food.” He replied, ”Don’t be stingy,” where Manqele replied, “You are used to your wh*/-s giving you stuff.”
Chauke will be called to the witness stand again on 10 September at the Randburg Magistrates’ Court at 2pm.
