Body of Phoenix murder victim may have to be exhumed for police to examine cause of death

The body of one of the Phoenix murder victims, Mondle Majola, may have to be exhumed for police to examine the exact cause of his death. This was revealed by the investigating officer, Siphosenkosi Shezi, during cross-examination in the bail application of three men accused of killing Majola.

He was killed in Phoenix, north of Durban, during the July unrest which affected KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng. More than 350 people lost their lives.

The bail application for the brothers Dylan and Ned Govender and Jeetendra Jaikissoon has been dragging on for two months in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court.

Under cross-examination in court, Shezi disputed the findings of a forensic expert who looked at a video of the incident. Shezi also does not agree with the pathologist who examined Mondle Majola’s body.

The post mortem report presented in court concludes that Majola did not die from gunshot wounds, but from a stab wound. Shezi said he was shocked by the pathologist’s findings.

He told the court that the pathologist had admitted to mistakes in her post-mortem report when he approached her. The defence poked holes in Shezi’s evidence, saying the experts’ findings should stand.

But Shezi said he cannot rely on the experts as they had failed to properly analyse the gunshot wound on Majola’s face. He then told the court that police intend to exhume Majola’s body to determine the exact cause of death.

Majola’s father, Learnmore Siwela, who was present in court says the family is aware of this and will accept any decision made by the State.

“The exhumation is a little bit harder to hear again but she (his wife) will be strong so they can do whatever it takes to get evidence. The pathologist was not clear enough. Some of the evidence is not there in there in her findings. So, for the investigating officers to get that evidence, they have to exhume the body.”

The bail hearing continues. The accused have been remanded in custody.

Recently, Premier Sihle Zikalala called for justice to prevail for the victims :