FIVE suspects linked to the AKA and Tibz murder case will be back in the Durban Magistrates on Thursday, 2 May, for arguments.
In March, the suspects Lindokuhle Mkhwanazi (30), Lindani Ndimande (35), Siyanda Myeza (21), Mziwethemba Gwabeni (36), and Lindokuhle Mkhwanazi (29) applied for bail. After that, the investigating officer on the matter, Detective Kumarasan Pillay, responded by opposing their bail and said the State had enough evidence.
Detective Pillay revealed that Gwabeni was paid R803,455 by KZN taxi boss Mfunda (Mfundo) Gcaba, allegedly for the hit on 11 February 2023, the day after AKA was killed.
In reply, the five suspects revealed that the State has no case against them.
Accused number four, Mziwethemba Gwabeni, who has been labelled as the coordinator of the hit, was the last suspect to reply to Detective Pillay on 8 April.
Gwabeni asked the court if indeed Mfunda Gcaba paid him R803,455, why was he not arrested with him?
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Gwabeni said the state's problem in this matter, which can be described as the elephant in the room, is Gcaba's status and the failure of the state to arrest him.
“The state has alleged that I’m the mastermind behind the killing of AKA and Tibz and that an amount of R800,000 was transferred into my account as payment for the so-called hit. If the state honestly believes this and if it had any evidence, not conjecture, then I would have expected that Mfunda Gcaba would have been arrested and would have been a co-accused.
"The fact of the matter is that he is not a co-accused, and the state has not taken this court into its confidence and disclosed why they have chosen not to arrest him,” he said.
Gwabeni said he believes the court should ask why the state had failed to arrest Gcaba.
“Just as the state has been unable to tell this honourable court what possible motive I could have in the killing of Forbes,” he said.
Gwabeni said the state does not have enough evidence that he was at King Shaka Airport on 10 February when AKA landed and used his virtual bank card to pay for parking before he followed the rapper in his BMW car.
“The state has been strangely silent and has chosen not to address the fact that an airport is a national key point with extensive security close circuit cameras. I've expected the state to state categorically that they have video evidence of me driving the motor vehicle and following Forbes," he said.
