RONNIE ELLIOTT, Pretoria | Wednesday 8.30pm
“PEOPLE’s poet” Mzwakhe Mbuli denied on Wednesday that he was involved in a robbery at the First National Bank in Waverley in Pretoria on October 28 1997, implying he was framed.
Mbuli, Happy Shikwambane and Ben Masiso are on trial in the Pretoria Regional Court in connection with the robbery, in which some R15000 was stolen. They have denied guilt.
Mbuli claimed he had sensitive information about drug trafficking, which he passed on to a government official. However, he was reluctant to name the official. He said he believes an attempt on his life in 1996 was linked to this information.
He told the court that on the day of the robbery and his arrest, Masiso had told him that a certain Dlamini wanted to meet him in Pretoria as he had information about the assassination attempt. Mbuli said Shikwambane and Masiso accompanied him to Pretoria, and both he and Masiso took their firearms with them.
He said he has no knowledge of blue overalls or a hand grenade found in his car. He said that he also did not know that the bag found in his car contained the stolen money. He testified that while waiting for Dlamini at a garage in Waverley, Masiso had spoken to a man through the car window, and a tog bag was dropped into the passenger seat where Shikwambane was sitting.
He said under cross examination that he had expected Masiso to explain the meeting, which he suspected was a set-up, but he did not mention his suspicion to his co-accused. He said after the man left, Masiso looked worried and told him to start the car and drive off. They were pulled over and arrested a short while later. The trial continues.
African National Congress Women’s League president Winnie Madikizela Mandela attended Wednesday’s proceedings. At an impromptu press conference afterwards, she said Mbuli visited her two days before his arrest with sensitive information about drug trafficking. She said that at the same time he told her he was under surveillance and feared for his life.