Lion murder accused Simon Mathebula (43) told the Phalaborwa Circuit Court on Tuesday that he knew it was wrong to hold a man against his will.
He said he was just carrying out orders when he helped tie up Nelson Chisale with an electrical extension cord.
Simon is on trial with Richard ”Doctor” Mathebula and Mark Scott-Crossley for the murder of Chisale.
He was ”nothing” compared to the men who gave him the orders to do so — Richard (41) and Robert Mnisi, a former co-accused since turned state witness, Simon told the court under cross-examination on his second day in the witness box.
Simon could not remember assaulting Chisale himself the morning of January 31 last year, he responded to a question by state advocate Ivy Thenga.
He did not touch Chisale, but left him where he was after Scott-Crossley left the farm having seen Chisale, he added.
Chisale was ”still fresh and nice” when Scott-Crossley later returned, Mathebula told the court.
”He was still alive.”
Simon and Scott-Crossley have pleaded not guilty to murdering Chisale, who was thrown to lions in Mokwalo White Lion Project, in Hoedspruit, on January 31 last year.
Their trial is being heard in Richard’s absence. He fell ill during a previous appearance and was admitted to hospital for treatment of suspected tuberculosis, and has been found too sick to continue with the case for at least the next three months.
In his evidence-in-chief, Simon told the court he had been unable to fall asleep after tying up Chisale and suggested it was because his normal bedtime had been long overdue.
”Did you maybe not fall asleep because you were upset, having fear, and recalling the things you saw?” Thenga put it to him.
Earlier, she accused Simon of ”tailoring his evidence as things unfold to suit the situation”.
”I had a problem. I had many questions pertaining to what happened in front of me, because ever since I’ve been born, I have never seen such a thing as a person being refused to go because he was tied up,” Simon replied.
While he was not threatened to tie up or assault Chisale, he was indeed threatened with death by Scott-Crossley while they were being taken to detectives’ offices after their arrest, Simon told the court.
He tried to tell the police about this, but did not tell his legal representative because of their language difficulty, he responded to questions by Judge George Maluleke, hearing the case with assessors Kate Choshi and Elphus Seemela.
Simon further told the court that he found a drop of blood ”smaller than the point of my thumb” in the loading bin of Scott-Crossley’s bakkie while washing it after the incident, but hosed it off.
”I looked at that spot, but I didn’t see blood,” he said.
He could not explain how police forensics experts later found traces of blood in the bakkie.
Scott-Crossley has now taken the stand to give his version of events. — Sapa