The six men accused of the murder of Kaizer Chiefs defender Luke Fleurs have pleaded not guilty to all charges against them.
The accused — Ndumiso Ndura Moswane (26), Fernando Nando Sive (25), Nhlakanipho Dlamini (21), Franky Xaba (25), Maredi Mphahlele (36), and Thembinkosi Hlomikhawu (31) — pleaded not guilty to all the charges against them during the plea stage of their trial in the Johannesburg High Court sitting at the Palm Ridge Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
During the hearing on Friday, the prosecutor, advocate PT Mpekana, told Judge Cassim Moosa that both the state and defence are ready to proceed with the accused’s pleas at trial.
Mpekana said the six accused are facing charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances (count one), murder (count two), unlawful possession of firearms (count three) and unlawful possession of ammunition (count four).
In addition to the first four counts, Mpekana said only Sive is facing a charge of unlawfully entering and remaining in the country.
Accused plead not guilty
When asked by Moosa how they plead to counts one to four, all six men pleaded not guilty. Sive, who hails from Maputo in Mozambique, pleaded guilty to being an undocumented migrant.
Mpekana said the state and the defence agreed that the trial would begin in earnest on September 1, with the first state witness expected to testify.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is expected to call 40 state witnesses to testify during the trial.
The trial is expected to run from September 1 to 5 and again from September 10 to 12 at the Johannesburg High Court, sitting at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court.
Moosa postponed the matter until September 1 to commence the trial.
The six suspects were denied bail in May last year, and they remain in police custody.
Legal Aid SA is funding the accused’s legal bills.
Shot and killed at Shell petrol station
According to the formal indictment, the state witnesses consist of police officers, residents of Slovoville in Soweto, employees of the petrol station where Fleurs was murdered, and Fleurs’ family members, among others.
On April 3, 2024, two armed men shot and killed Fleurs during a hijacking. The incident took place at the Shell petrol station located in the Constantia service centre in Florida, Roodepoort.
After shooting Fleurs, the two armed men sped off in a white BMW vehicle.
The six accused were arrested in April last year in Slovoville, and Fleurs’ luxury VW Golf 8 GTI was also recovered in April last year.
Police believe that the six accused are part of a syndicate responsible for car hijackings across Gauteng. The search for more suspects is ongoing.
Police are still searching for the gun used to kill Fleurs and the white BMW vehicle.
In the indictment, the state says Fleurs’ cause of death was a gunshot wound through the chest. The state also alleges that the accused committed the crimes in execution of a common purpose.
Suspects cannot be linked to the crime
During the suspects’ bail application in May 2024, the court heard evidence from the investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Nare Benedict Moloto, who said the police did not have any evidence that placed the suspects at the scene where Fleurs was killed.
Moloto said the police cannot link the suspects to the murder and hijacking of Fleurs, noting that he cannot convince the court that they planned the murder and hijacking.
Moloto added that police obtained statements from the suspects, and they admitted to being in possession of Fleurs’ vehicle, which they planned to strip and sell its parts.
According to Moloto, the suspects claimed that they saw Fleurs’ car parked in front of someone’s yard for days when they decided to steal it.
The car keys were found in possession of the suspects, according to Moloto. The suspects, however, denied that they killed Fleurs or stole his vehicle.
They informed the court that they could not be connected to the crimes they are accused of because the state’s case was weak.
