I could hear someone drowning - Rhodes Park witness
27 October 2016
Johannesburg - A third witness who took the stand in the Rhodes Park trial on Thursday morning, said he had heard screams and someone drowning.
"I heard screams and it sounded like someone was drowning. I knew someone was in trouble. It sounded like there was water in the person’s mouth," Thomas Rivombo told the High Court sitting in Palm Ridge.
Rivombo, who works at the Rhodes Park Bowling Club, looked calm and answered questions from prosecutor Mutuwa Nengovhela with confidence.
He said he had taken a crate and stood on it to look over a wall at the park’s lake.
"I looked at the water and only saw a head sticking out. There were bubbles around the head," he said.
He was testifying in the trial of Thabo Nkala, 25, Admore Ndlovu, 23, and Mduduzi Mathibela Lawrence, 32. They have pleaded not guilty to charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances, rape, and murder.
Desperate rush to call police
They were allegedly part of a 12-man gang that attacked two couples walking in the park, in Kensington, on the evening of Saturday, October 17 2015. They are accused of forcing the women’s husbands, Zukisa Khela and Sizwe Tyeke, to strip before forcing them into the lake, where they drowned.
Rivombo said he ran to the bar of the bowling club, which is adjacent to the park, and told the treasurer what he had seen and that he should call the police.
The treasurer told him his battery was flat. Rivombo said he ran back to the scene and found one of the women who had been raped.
"She told me they were raped and the people I saw in the dam were their husbands. I only had R5 airtime on my cellphone and decided to call my cousin, a police officer at the Cleveland police station. Luckily for me, he was doing night shift that evening," Rivombo testified.
After he had called his cousin, the second woman arrived, but he could not speak to her because she was in a terrible state.
"She was crying and rolling on the ground, and I could hear her pray to God to save her husband that was drowning in the dam," he said.
They waited for police to arrive and he accompanied the officers to the scene.
Tears as police officer describes Rhodes Park murder
Johannesburg - Many were left in tears after a police officer described the recovery of two men killed in Rhodes Park in 2015 during testimony in the High Court sitting in Palm Ridge on Thursday.
“Two men, both naked with their hands tied behind their backs, were retrieved by the divers in Rhodes Park,” Constable Bambatha Jan Tshabalala, told prosecutor Mutuwa Nengovhela.
The first body was retrieved around 21:00 and the second body approximately at 23:00 that evening, Saturday, October 17, he told the court.
He said the man was aged between 21 and 23, and was naked. His hands had been tied behind his back with an item of clothing. Two women left the court in tears as Tshabalala spoke.
He said both men were tied up the same way.
“They were wearing nothing,” he said.
Forgiveness
Tshabalala was testifying in the trial of Thabo Nkala, 25, Admore Ndlovu, 23, and Mduduzi Mathibela Lawrence, 32. They have pleaded not guilty to charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances, rape, and murder.
They were allegedly part of a 12-man gang that attacked two couples walking in the park, in Kensington, that Saturday evening. They allegedly forced the women’s husbands, Zukisa Khela and Sizwe Tyeke, to strip before forcing them into the lake, where they drowned.
On Tuesday, one victim told the court she forgave the men who allegedly killed her husband.
"I forgive them, God will deal with them. These people do not know what type of person they killed. They took away a husband, friend and a supporter in life. They took away a man that prayed before he died," she told the court.
On Thursday, Tshabalala told the court they were patrolling in Kensington on October 17, when they received a call about an incident at the park.
On their arrival, they found two women who were both crying and shivering. They told him a group of 12 men and raped and robbed them, and that their partners had been thrown into the dam.
“I couldn’t see anything where the ladies pointed to and phoned a detective on standby, because we assign cases of robbery and rape to them,” he said.
He said it was the detective’s responsibility to call the divers to retrieve the bodies. The divers, a team of about five men, arrived between 20:00 and 21:00 in the evening, followed by two photographers.
It was cold and the divers took turns in the water. Police installed a spotlight on top of a police car so they could see. The divers found the men's bodies two hours apart.
When Judge Papi Masopa asked Tshabalala to look at the photo album containing pictures of the two bodies, Tshabalala looked up, closed his eyes, and said the men were not naked and tied up.
Tshabalala said several times he "could not exactly remember what happened" that day and that he was "not entirely sure".
In both photos, the men were dressed and their hands were not tied behind their backs.
Masopa asked Tshabalala who had moved the bodies. He replied that police photographers moved them.
The trial adjourned for lunch.
2 pairs of underwear found at Rhodes Park – police officer
A police officer on standby at the time of the Rhodes Park rape and double murder, testified on Thursday that two pairs of underwear were found at the scene.
"One male and one female pair of underwear were found at the scene. There was also a cellphone found," Maanda Thivhilingwi told the High Court sitting in Palm Ridge.
Thivhilingwi was the fifth State witness called to testify in the trial of Thabo Nkala, 25, Admore Ndlovu, 23, and Mduduzi Mathibela Lawrence, 32.
They have pleaded not guilty to charges of rape, murder, and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
They were allegedly part of a 12-man gang that attacked two couples walking in the park in Kensington on the evening of Saturday, October 17, 2015. They allegedly forced the women’s husbands, Zukisa Khela and Sizwe Tyeke, to strip before forcing them into the lake, where they drowned.
Thivhilingwi looked straight ahead and responded softly to the questions posed by prosecutor Mutuwa Nengovhela.
He said he arrived at the park that evening and met a Constable Tshabalala, who told him that a group of men had attacked two women and thrown their husbands into the lake.
Constable Bambatha Jan Tshabalala testified for the State earlier. Thivhilingwi said he told Tshabalala to accompany the two women to the local police station.
He stayed behind and arranged for police divers. They arrived around 21:00 and retrieved the bodies. He called paramedics, who arrived and confirmed the men had died.
"When the photographer was taking photos, there was underwear and a cellphone lying on the ground. I called the mortuary," he said.
He said the phone was dry.
Thivhilingwi was asked to take a look at a photo album. He confirmed that the two pairs of underwear and the phone were the items he had seen at the scene.
The trial was adjourned until Friday.
