OMPHITLHETSE MOOKI
ONE minute he was standing in for a security guard at his supermarket, checking customer receipts as they left the store.
When he lifted his head, the barrel of a gun was shoved in his face by a young man who shouted profanities and pulled him by his pants to force him to stand up.
Testifying in the Johannesburg High Court yesterday, Soweto businessman Samson Thabethe told of an evening in October last year when a group of armed men stormed his supermarket in Zola.
They sprayed a hail of bullets as he ran for cover, and killed a cashier.
“I heard someone shouting ‘ voertsek old man! Stand up.’
“I lifted my head to realise there were men pointing firearms at me.
“I managed to push one away, and as I fled, they fired shots at me,” said Thabethe.
He ran to a yard near the store, and while hiding there, he could see policemen approaching.
“When they saw police officers, they started shooting at them,” he said.
Minutes later Thabethe went back to the store and found his cashier, Keletso Iceboard Tshe- tlho, laying face down in a pool of blood.
he died later in hospital.
Thabethe was testifying at the start of the trial of Muzokhanyayo Ndlovu, 22, Bongani kethwa, 23, Ayanda Mvelase, 18, Xolani Shezi, 22, Mhlabunzima Shezi, 23, Siphesihle Mabizela, 19, and Mbuso Zungu, 20.
The men, who all reside at Nancefield hostel, have pleaded not guilty to all the nine charges, including the murder of Tshetlho and the attempted murder of three other people.
“Accused one (Ndlovu) and five (Mhlabunzima Shezi) say they were at a tavern drinking at that time.
“Accused two (Kethwa) says he was travelling with a friend at the time,” said the men’s attorney, Chris Pillay.
A Samsung E250 was stolen and R10 000 cash taken from one of the tills.
While fleeing, the men allegedly hijacked a Toyota taxi and used it as a getaway vehicle.
Counsel for Mvelase, Shezi, Mabizela and Zungu was expected to cross-examine Thabethe this morning .