Sentencing in the murder trial of Wandile Bozwana, a North West tycoon who was assassinated in October 2015, has been postponed to November 20.
During cross-examination of a social worker earlier on Friday, state prosecutor Jennifer Cronje told the Pretoria High Court that Bozwana’s murder was compelled by greed.
The social worker, who cannot be identified, evaluated the murder accused who include notorious Pretoria taxi boss Vusi Mathibela.
“I put it to you that the accused before court did not kill Bozwana out of need but greed,” said Cronje.
According to the social worker’s reports, the families of the accused are barely coping since they were incarcerated.
This, said the social worker, because the accused were the bread winners at the time of their arrest.
Cronje asked: “Have the accused considered how Mrs Bozwana and the kids are doing, since their [accused] families cannot cope without them?
“Did they ever put themselves in the shoes of the deceased’s family?”
To which the social worker responded: “The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges, so they have not put themselves in the shoes of Mr Bozwana’s wife.”
Cronje probed further, asking if the accused have had a privilege of allegedly being in solitary confinement yet they are still visited by their families.
“Even though the accused are incarcerated, they are still allegedly in solitary confinement and can see their families because they visit them,” said Cronje.
Responded the social worker: “They still see their families because they visit them. However, in my consultations with the accused, they’ve complained about limited time and the number of people they see on a specific day.”
Wrapping up her cross-examination, Cronje said the social worker’s reports are of no assistance to the court.
“All the reports that you compiled about the accused before court in this case are of no assistance to the court proceedings,” said Cronje.
To which the social worker responded: “I was asked to compile a report and that is all I did.”
Bozwana was gunned down in a suspected hit on the Garsfontein off-ramp in Tshwane on October 2 2015.
Mathibela and co-accused Sipho Hudla, Matamela Mutapa and Bonginkosi Khumalo are in the dock for Bozwana’s murder. They were convicted in 2022.
On Wednesday, Bozwana’s brother Maviki announced that their mother Alleta was murdered in an alleged robbery in her Northern Cape home.
“We received the shocking news of the robbery at our mother’s home in Kuruman, where the robber was confronted by a neighbour who helps our mother in her shebeen business,” said Maviki.
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