A witness wanted to give police information on the murder of reggae star Lucky Dube but was warned that she could be killed, the Johannesburg High Court heard on Wednesday.
Mpho Monareng, wife to Thabo Monareng who was arrested in connection with Dube’s murder but later released, said the morning before the men were arrested, she and her husband had a heated argument that turned physical.
They were at a garage in Norwood with one of the accused, Mbuti Mabe.
”I got very angry; I told him I was going to inform the police about what they did. He took me to the side and warned me not to report the matter to the police because accused number one or two would kill him or me.”
She said she and Mabe drove to Vosloorus then later met her husband in Alberton.
”We got there and me and Thabo drove back home to our complex and that’s when we found police.
”We were arrested and we took the police to Alberton where we had left accused number three [Mabe]. He was blaming me for this, saying I had told the police.”
When Mpho was asked why she had not reported the matter to the police, she said: ”I had a lot on my mind.”
Mabe, Sifiso Mhlanga and Julius Xowa, all in their thirties, are on trial for the murder of the musician outside his brother’s house in Rosettenville, southern Johannesburg, on October 13 2007.
They face a charge of murder, two charges of aggravated robbery, one count of attempted aggravated robbery and two counts of the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.
The trial continues. — Sapa