The trial-within-a-trial related to the murder of Kaizer Chiefs defender Luke Fleurs got underway on Wednesday with a police officer testifying about how she took the warning statement of one of the six accused.
Detective Constable Gertrude Ntombi Mosetla from Honeydew Police Station was the state’s first witness at the Johannesburg High Court sitting at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court.
Last week, Judge Cassim Moosa ruled that a trial-within-a-trial will take place in order to determine the admissibility of the warning statements that police took from accused number four, Franky Xaba (25), and number five, Maredi Mphahlele (36), in relation to the April 2024 murder of Fleurs.
Xaba and Mphahlele said they did not give the warning statements freely and voluntarily.
All accused present
The accused – Ndumiso Ndura Moswane (26), Fernando Nando Sive (25), Nhlakanipho Dlamini (21), Xaba, Mphahlele, and Thembinkosi Hlomikhawu (31) are facing charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder, unlawful possession of firearms, and unlawful possession of ammunition.
Sive is also facing a charge of unlawfully entering and remaining in the Republic of South Africa. This is count five. Sive is originally from Mozambique.
The accused pleaded not guilty to all the charges they are facing.
During court proceedings, state prosecutor Advocate Thamsanqa Mpekana led Mosetla’s evidence-in-chief.
Mosetla was testifying with regards to only Xaba’s warning statement.
Read him his rights
Mosetla said she charged Xaba with the hijacking and murder of Fleurs in April 2024. This took place at the Johannesburg Central Police Station.
She said she introduced herself to Xaba, asked him for his identity and told him he was a suspect in a car hijacking.
Mosetla said she read Xaba his rights.
“I told him he had the right to a lawyer. If he did not have one, the state will provide a lawyer for him.”
She said Xaba told him he wants to make an application to get a lawyer from Legal Aid SA. However, he changed his mind.
“I asked him if he sustained any injuries and he said he did not have any injuries. I asked him what happened on the day of the hijacking (April 3 2024) and as he was explaining, I noticed that part of his statement amounted to a confession.
“So, I stopped our interview and handed him over to my colleague Captain Abe Sefularo Montwedi for continuation,” said Mosetla.
During cross-examination, Xaba’s lawyer Advocate Pholile Khanyile said Xaba was not informed of his legal rights, including the right to remain silent when his warning statement was taken.
Khanyile said Xaba did not give his warning statement voluntarily and freely.
His word against hers
“Accused number four says he was not informed of his right to remain silent when you were taking his statement. He said you did not inform him that the interview with him is being recorded.
“He says you tricked him to disclose information. He says you tricked him by saying police will release him immediately if he cooperates. He says you used verbal threats against him. He says he wanted to apply for Legal Aid but the police disregarded that. He says he was forced to answer a barrage of questions,” said Khanyile.
Mosetla disagreed with Khanyile’s assertion.
Fleurs was shot and killed on the night of April 3 2024 at the Constantia Shell petrol station in Florida, Roodepoort.
Two men who robbed the soccer star of his red, luxury VW Golf 8 GTI vehicle shot him once in the chest.
After the conclusion of Mosetla’s evidence-in-chief and cross-examination, Moosa postponed the matter to October 8 2025 for the state to call its next witness.
The six suspects who were denied bail in May last year remain in police custody.
Full house of witnesses
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is expected to call 40 state witnesses to testify during the main trial. Thus far two state witnesses have testified in the main trial.
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.
After shooting Fleurs, the two armed and their accomplices men sped off in a white BMW vehicle and in Fleurs’ vehicle.
The six accused were arrested in April last year in Slovoville, and Fleurs’ car 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.
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