A former C-Max prison guard on Thursday recalled how two top prison officials were shot dead during a botched escape attempt bid five years ago.
Salmon Ngobeni, who was a section head at the top security prison in Pretoria in 2004, gave this evidence in the High Court trial of prison warder Herman Makhubela and prisoner Patrick Mabuse.
The two have denied guilt on a range of charges, including two of murder, resulting from a failed escape bid at the prison during which prison head Sam Gomba and acting area coordinator Ben Ndinisa were murdered.
The State alleges Makhubela had provided the prisoners with a firearm and a knife after being promised a minibus in exchange for his assistance.
The alleged planners of the escape bid, prisoners Mpho Klangago and Ronald (Ronnie) Nenyatso, committed suicide during the escape bid.
Two other prisoners, Thabo Phofedi and Freddy Teane, were in 2007 respectively sentenced to 20 and 12 years imprisonment for their role in the botched escape.
Ngobeni testified that before the incident, one of the prisoners in his section, King Winner Maluleka, had told him he’d overheard Ronald Nenyatso asking warder Makhubela to smuggle in a firearm on condition that Ronald arranged a kombi for the warder.
Ngobeni took the information to the prison head, Gomba, who arranged for the prison to be searched, but no firearm was found.
On the day of the incident, Ngobeni was accompanying Mpho Klangago to make a phone call when Klangago produced a firearm and ordered Ngobeni back to his office, where Gomba and Ndinisa were sitting.
Klangago ordered the two officials out and the prison head said they should talk, but Klangago said there was no time for talking now.
He ordered four of his friends, including Mabuse, to be unlocked.
Klangago and two of his friends then proceeded with Gomba and Ndinisa to the office next door while Ngobeni and other prison officials were taken to a storeroom.
Two of the prisoners — one of them armed with a knife — remained behind with Ngobeni and the others and ordered them to undress.
While they were busy, they heard a shot and one of the prisoners said they were no longer leaving.
After the shot rang out, Klangago, Teane and Nenyatso came to the storeroom with two cellphones, which the group of inmates used to phone their families, telling them they had tried to escape, but had not succeeded and they had therefore decided to commit suicide.
Klangago told Ngobeni he had murdered Gomba and Ndinisa and that he wanted to die and no-one should be accused, except him.
Mabuse and Phofedi said they did not want to die, whereupon Klangago took the firearm and inspected it.
He realised he only had two bullets and told Mabuse and Phofedi it was their ”lucky day”.
”Freddy [Teane] and Ronald [Nenyatso] stood next to each other with their heads against each other.
”Mpho [Klangago] took the firearm. He pointed it at the side of Ronald’s head with the intention that the bullet will go through to Freddy’s head. He shot at Ronald and they both fell. Then Mpho kneeled down and shot himself in the head,” Ngobeni testified.
King Winner Maluleka, the prisoner who initially reported the conversation about a firearm, earlier testified for the state, but on Thursday refused to continue with his evidence and insisted he wanted to consult with an attorney.
He told the court he was being victimised in jail, no-one wanted to listen to his complaints and he feared for his life.
The trial continues. – Sapa