Alleged serial killer of young girls from eMbalenhle, Themba Shongwe, denies ever knowing Mihle Zingamo.
Shongwe said this when the prosecutor Advocate Tracy Keen-Horak questioned him if he knew Mihle, who was allegedly Shongwe’s last victim.
The 14-year-old Mihle was raped and murdered and her body was dumped in the street in May 2018. Shongwe was in the witness stand last week during his trial for allegedly raping and murder of young girls from eMbalenhle.
He is facing four counts of murder. Shongwe was questioned why Xolani Dladla (Mihle’s uncle) last year testified that his family treated Shongwe as part of their family.
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Dladla said Shongwe often used to visit and even sometimes borrowed money. Dladla told the court at the time that Mihle saw Shongwe almost as an older brother who used to send the girl to buy him cigarettes.
However, Shongwe claimed he didn’t know Mihle. He accused the community of Ext 17 (eMbalenhle) and the investigating officer, Sergeant Hezekiel Malapela, of targeting him.
Keen-Horak questioned how Shongwe could be targeted when DNA swaps were also collected from 44 other men in the area.
The issue of a wheelbarrow he had borrowed from a neighbour again came into the spotlight when Keen-Horak asked Shongwe the time he went to borrow the wheelbarrow.
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Shongwe said in the morning and the prosecutor put to him that the witness where Shongwe borrowed the wheelbarrow testified that it was late afternoon.
Shongwe insisted that it was in the morning and that he had used it to transport firewood.
When testifying a year ago, Malapela told the court that the wheelbarrow was taken to the forensic laboratory, and tests were conducted, but nothing was found.
The trial continues and the prosecutor will continue to cross-examine Shongwe as he is still on the witness box.
