Warrant Officer Samuel Dlomo told the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court that Mdluli told the officer investigating the December 1998 attempted murder of Ramogibe to shelve the matter “for not having sufficient evidence”. Dlomo said he subsequently got hold of the docket so that he could determine what was needed for the case to be taken forward. He studied it and realised there were outstanding witnesses that needed to be spoken to, the crime scene needed to be visited and, once at the scene, spent cartridges needed to be looked for. He made contact with Ramogibe and on February 17 1999 they drove to the area in Vosloorus where he had been shot at four times. Dlomo parked the car in front of the corner house of Mary Lokaje and Ramogibe proceeded to point out what had happened once they had gotten out of the car. They went into the yards of two nearby residences in an attempt to interview the occupants but none were home. ‘Killed by men unknown to him’ While Dlomo was taking notes on the bonnet of the car, two men approached and one pointed a gun at the back of his head and forced him to lie on the ground. His gun and car keys were taken from him and he subsequently heard three gunshots go off. Ramogibe had been killed by men unknown to him, said Dlomo. He denied assertions made by investigating officer Kobus Roelefse’s that he was “an agent of Mdluli”. In fact, he had never been friends with Mdluli nor his other former co-accused Colonel Nkosana Ximba and Lieutenant-Colonel Mtuni-Omhle Mtunzi, said Dlomo. Had he been an agent of Mdluli, as alleged, he would have been promoted or received cattle or a farm, said Dlomo. Instead, he was demoted in 2000 and transferred while being investigated for corruption charges of which he was eventually cleared, he told the court. ‘In a state’ Lokaje also testified on Tuesday, saying her husband Daniel was in the bedroom and she in another part of the house when they heard a gun go off. She said her husband looked out of the window and said: “Here they are shooting a person.” More gunshots went off and Lokaje subsequently saw three uniformed policemen running away. Defence lawyer Ike Motloung dismissed Lokaje’s testimony. She made no statement to police at the time – only 12 years later. Also, her police statement spoke of three policemen whereas she told the court there were four. She could not have known exactly what her husband was doing in the bedroom or what he had seen because she was not in there with him, said Motloung. “You were in a state on that day and can no longer be certain of what happened,” said Motloung. The inquest into who was responsible for the death of Ramogibe, and whether criminal charges will be re-instituted against Mdluli and his alleged accomplices, continues. This story was first published by the Mail & Guardian Online on September 12 2012. * Got a tip-off for us about this story? Email [email protected] 
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