A state witness continued with his testimony at a trial in the North West High Court sitting in Mogwase near Rustenburg against fourteen men accused of killing a Marikana man some few years ago. Petrus Sabata was hacked to death with knives and spears in Marikana back in 2016, accused of allocating RDP houses to people who are not residing in Marikana.
In 2012 during the killings in Marikana, government started a housing project as part of development initiatives. At the beginning of 2016, a portion of the houses were allocated to some residents, by government.
The community started accusing the government of allocating the houses to people who are not residing in the area prior to the inception of the project. A local Councillor Petrus Sabata was allegedly murdered over allocation of RDP houses in Marikana.
Sabata, who was a supply chain manager of the RDP housing project, was accused of allocating new houses to non-residents. Beneficiaries who were on the waiting list occupied the remaining houses. Disgruntled residents and mine workers defended this move and refused to vacate the houses.
Since the beginning of the trial on Monday morning, only two people took the stand in court. A doctor submitted a post-mortem certificate. The state witness, who is under witness protection, told the court that he saw all the men arrested when Sabata was murdered. He also told the court that there are many people who were part of Sabata’s murder.
Arguments ensued when the defence applied for the trial within a trial. This as the defence questioned the reliability of the statements submitted by the state witness.
Although the court refused to grant the defence a trial within a trial, the defence argued that the statement written by the state witness, back in 2016, is different from what he told the court at the beginning of his testimony in court on Monday. A high police contingent maintains its presence in and outside the court. Marikana residents have also been at the court in support of the 14 accused.
Five men were remanded in custody during their last court appearance, while the other nine accused, including the Marikana activist Napoleon Webster, were released on bail last year. The case has been adjourned to Wednesday.
