AKA-Tibz murder trial rocked by defence shake-up as accused seeks separate trial - IOL

Tony Forbes, (right) father of slain rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes, and Sylvester Motsoane, father of Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane, arrive at the Durban High Court as the murder trial gets under way.

The murder trial into the deaths of Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane has opened in the Durban High Court amid a major shake-up of the defence teams and an application to separate one accused’s trial.

Tony Forbes and Sylvester Motsoane were among those who arrived at court on Monday as proceedings got under way, the Mercury reported. 

The legal changes emerged last week, with two prominent advocates withdrawing from the matter and new counsel stepping in.

Advocate Jimmy Howse SC, who represented fourth accused Mziwethemba Gwabeni, has been replaced by Advocate William Nicholson SC, who also serves as an acting judge.

Advocate Muzi Mzelemu, who represented Lindokuhle Thabani Mkhwanazi, will also represent Lindani Ndimande, who was previously represented by Advocate Paul Jorgensen.

The defence changes come as Mkhwanazi seeks to have his trial separated from that of accused Myeza.

The application was raised in court ahead of Monday’s proceedings, with the State indicating that it would oppose the bid.

State advocate Gcaba told the court that the prosecution had received what he described as correspondence from the instructing attorney concerning the separation of the trial.

“We received some love letters from the instructing attorney, about a separation of trial. I’m still confused by it. But I think this is something that we have to deal with on Monday,” Gcaba said.

He said the State intended to file its response by Saturday while consultations were under way.

Despite the late filing, Gcaba assured the court that the State would be ready to proceed with the trial on Monday.

Advocate Mlotshwa said the application had been prepared about a week earlier, but the instructing attorney, Sibusiso Dlamini, had experienced difficulties filing it at court.

He said Mkhwanazi was the accused bringing the application and that the other accused had aligned themselves with it.

Mkhwanazi is seeking a separation because Myeza faces six additional charges, including two counts of murder and theft charges relating to a Toyota Etios.

In his affidavit, Mkhwanazi said he had been in custody without bail for almost two years and seven months.

He argued that the charges against Myeza could instead be prosecuted separately in the Regional Court.

“In fact, the State has a broad option either to have all these multiple counts against Myeza prosecuted in the Regional Court as they are justiciable to be prosecuted in the Regional Court or in the High Court with only Myeza,” he said.

Mkhwanazi argued that remaining in court while evidence relating to Myeza’s additional charges was presented would cause him financial prejudice and waste his time.

“I shudder to think what it is that I will be doing in Court while the State is presenting evidence relating to these multiple counts against Myeza,” he said.

He also warned of the potential for the matter to become similar to the high-profile Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, which involved lengthy proceedings and multiple accused.

Judge Sipunzi directed the State and defence to resolve outstanding issues before the murder trial proceeded.

Among these are Section 220 admissions, which relate to facts agreed upon by the prosecution and defence and therefore do not need to be proved through evidence.

Gcaba said the admissions would cover issues including postmortem reports and causes of death.

Judge Sipunzi said she did not want issues to emerge unexpectedly once the trial was under way.

The court was also told that some witnesses would testify virtually from another province, while one witness had requested to testify in camera.

The seven accused collectively face 11 charges, including conspiracy to commit murder.

Myeza faces a further six charges and an alternative count arising from a separate alleged incident on May 6, 2022, on Jan Smuts Highway in Mayville.

The trial continues in the Durban High Court.