The second witness in the case against the eight members of Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s VIP protection team went on trial on Thursday morning.
Judge Abdul Khan instructed the media not to identify, record, or take images of the witness prior to the witness testifying in the Randburg magistrate’s court.
Sworn before state prosecutor Elizabeth le Roux, the witness identified himself as a passenger in the vehicle at the time of the incident.
He was one of the victims of the alleged attack that occurred on July 2, 2023, on the N1 highway in Johannesburg.
The witness claimed that two black cars blocked their path as they were travelling from Potchefstroom to Pretoria.
“I was asleep at the back of the car, and I was woken up by one of the passengers,” he testified.
“He told me to look at the right side of the car, where there were men who pointed guns towards us.
“I didn’t see what type of firearms they were, but they were long firearms.”
Facing the barrel of the gun
He explained that the men who were pointing guns at them dragged him out of the vehicle.
“Before I knew it, there was a banging sound, and the back window was smashed. After that, they dragged me out of the car.
“I lost balance, and I was falling backwards. That’s when I was kicked in the face and fell on the road.
“When I tried to get up, one man came to me with a rifle and hit me with it at the back of my head on the right; after that, I was unconscious,” he testified.
The witness testified in court that he lost consciousness and was unsure of how long he had been unconscious before regaining consciousness on the grass across from the rail.
“My nose was bleeding, and I had a blue eye, while my right hand, ribs, and back were swollen. The driver of our vehicle had a red mark on his head.”
Hijack suspicions
The witness claimed that after the incident, he woke up believing they had been hijacked and asked one of the other passengers to help him lift the driver, who was still lying on the ground, to the car.
He said: “This happened just after 4pm on Sunday, and we had a roll call at 6pm at the base.
“So I drove from the scene to the base because the driver was not in a good state to drive. We feared that he might cause an accident.
“After the roll call, I spoke to the person in charge of us at the base and told him that we were hijacked and beaten up.
“However, we didn’t go for medical help on the day. We told him that we would go on Monday.”
Fourth accused identified as the attacker
The witness was asked if he could recognise himself in the attack video when the state showed it to him in court.
“I can see myself in the video, and this is the same video I saw trending on social media two days after the incident,” he responded.
He then indicated that Harmans Madumetja Ramokhonami, the fourth accused, was the one who had attacked him on the day of the incident.
When asked if they had been drinking that day, he replied that they had not since they had all had alcohol around 11pm the night before.
After turning themselves in to the police in July 2023, each of the accused received R10,000.
- Testimony continues
