By Anita Dangazele
- The main trial against Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala and his co-accused remains paused while the court decides if key evidence can be used.
- Co-accused Nthabiseng Nzama lost her lawyer this week, days after being refused permission to skip parts of the trial to focus on her studies.
The main trial against Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala and his four co-accused remains on hold, while the Johannesburg High Court works through a separate mini-trial to decide whether key evidence against one of them can even be used.
This side process, called a trial-within-a-trial, exists to settle a specific dispute before the main case continues: co-accused Musa Kekana’s lawyer argues police did not lawfully arrest his client, and that a witness’s description of the getaway driver was too vague to reliably identify him. If the judge agrees, some of the state’s evidence could be thrown out before the main trial resumes.
Captain Phumi Sekgobela has been testifying this week about the operation that led to Kekana’s arrest, with the defence challenging inconsistencies between his evidence and the police’s own paperwork on the reason for the arrest.
Separately, the fifth accused, Nthabiseng Nzama, lost her lawyer this week after he withdrew citing financial constraints.
Judge Cassim Moosa ruled that Advocate Nardus Grove, who already represents co-accused Tiego Mabusela, will take over representing Nzama too, to avoid delaying the trial further. It comes just days after Nzama was refused permission to skip parts of the trial not related to her own charges so she could focus on completing her honours degree in commerce.
Matlala, his wife Tsakane, Kekana, Mabusela and Nzama have all pleaded not guilty to a combined 25 charges, including the attempted murders of actress Tebogo Thobejane, taxi boss Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni and music producer Seunkie “DJ Vettys” Mokubung, along with conspiracy to commit murder, fraud and money laundering.
Pictured above: Vusumuzi Cat Matlala, his wife, Tsakani and co-accused in the dock.
Image source: National Prosecuting Authority
