The attempted murder trial of Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala got off to a dramatic start in the Johannesburg High Court on Tuesday. This after an emotional eyewitness recounted a hail of gunfire that nearly claimed his life before defence lawyers challenged the admissibility of crucial video evidence.
Matlala appeared in court alongside his co-accused and his wife, Tsakane Matlala, as the long-awaited trial commenced.
The state’s first witness, Mzamo Cele, a Bidvest security guard stationed at a golf estate in Centurion, testified about the shooting that unfolded while he was on duty.
This shooting almost took the life of taxi industry mogul and alleged extortionist Madoda ‘Joe’ Sibanyoni.
Cele told the court that at about 10.40pm, he was working alone when a red Ferrari and a Volkswagen Golf 7 arrived at the estate.
“Quickly after, my colleague, Mr Mazibuko, came there to hand over the radio that I was going to use at night while I work. While he was still there, a white BMW came and it was driving in a fast speed.
“Out of the BMW, two men alighted and they took out AK-47s and started shooting at us, but the bullet missed me. Mazibuko said let’s run away,” he said as he got emotional.
‘Die, you dog’
Cele said the gunmen continued firing, directing their shots at the Golf 7, leaving its windows shattered.
He also testified that one of the gunmen shouted, “die, you dog”, in isiZulu while the shooting was underway.
According to Cele, the occupants of both the Ferrari and the Golf fled the scene on foot with one holding his intestines.
“Mazibuko said to me, ‘we cannot die while I have a firearm with me’, so I took my gun and started firing. After five rounds, I noticed that one man was shot and he went back to the car.”
He told the court he could not identify any of the people involved because he had only been working at the estate for five months.
“The lights at the car park were not working very well,” he added.
Defence challenges admissibility of video footage
Cele said the full impact of the incident only struck him the following day, when he realised how close he had come to losing his life.
The proceedings later shifted to a legal battle over the admissibility of video footage allegedly capturing the shooting.
The state sought to play the footage in court, but the defence objected, arguing that the prosecution had not laid the necessary foundation to establish its authenticity or originality.
“Photos of the crime scenes must’ve been taken, and my learned friend has that, she can use those. What if it turns out there was AI portions of videos within the footage? At this stage we cannot accept the footage,” said Matlala’s lawyer, Adv Anneline van den Heever.
The judge, Cassim Moosa, granted the objection.
