Central SA
Judgment reserved in FS Hawks captain's murder case─── LUCKY NKUYANE 15:21 Wed, 18 Nov 2020
Judgment has been reserved in the matter concerning an illegal Lesotho immigrant accused of murdering a Free State Hawks' captain in Phelindaba during an ambush in 2018.
The matter has been postponed to 09:00 on Thursday in the Bloemfontein High Court.
The State Prosecutor, Advocate Dansi Mpemvane, and Defence Advocate, Venecia Abrahams, delivered their closing arguments on Wednesday in the murder trial before Judge Joseph Mhlambi.
The accused, Ramolete Masiu, made a U-turn during his testimony and admitted that he was on the scene during the brutal murder of Hawks Captain Qeya Jonas Tshabalala (52). Masiu told Judge Mhlambi that an alleged accomplice, only mentioned as "Leremi", took a deadly shot at Tshabalala. It was revealed in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court during his bail application that he was arrested in August 2019 after evading arrest in 2018 while at National Hospital, attending to the gunshot wound he sustained during the shoot-out with Tshabalala.
Masiu has been a regular suspect in crimes around Park Road and Bloemspruit, which include murder, attempted murder, and business robbery committed with unlicensed firearms. Another Lesotho national, and his alleged accomplice, Sprinkaan Maema, is serving a 33-year jail sentence.
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