Durban — Investigations into the shooting outside the Pinetown police station are almost complete, with only the ballistics report outstanding.
This emerged when the taxi owner charged with the shooting appeared in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court.
Samkelo Lucky Zondi, who faces a murder charge as well as two counts of attempted murder, was denied bail in December.
Zondi was arrested for the October shooting while on trial charged with another murder, for which he was out on bail.
In the current matter, the 34-year-old faces three other counts of illegal possession of a prohibited firearm and ammunition.
Zondi also faces charges of illegal possession of two firearms and ammunition in the alleged offence that took place in February 2022.
He is expected to appear in the regional court for this case next week. In March he is due in the dock again in relation to the Pinetown police station shooting incident.
It is alleged that in October the victims had been with other occupants in a blue car parked outside the Pinetown police station. The men were eating lunch in the car when a grey Mercedes-Benz stopped opposite them. Two gunmen alighted and opened fire on the men.
One of the occupants, Andile Khuzwayo, managed to get out of the vehicle while another occupant inside returned fire.
The State is alleging that Khuzwayo noticed that Zondi was the driver of the grey Mercedes-Benz. Zondi was arrested on December 7, while on trial for his other matter.
During his bid for bail, Zondi’s lawyer told the court that he intended pleading not guilty, because he had an alibi that would dispute that he was involved in the killing.
Zondi’s alibi was that on the day of the shooting he was with his girlfriend and that he would request records from his cellphone network provider to prove his whereabouts at the time.
The taxi owner, who remains behind bars, appeared in court last Tuesday. The State said that it had received the post-mortem report.
“The crime scene photos and the identity parade report are also complete, but the ballistics report is still outstanding,” said prosecutor N Xulu.
The case was postponed for the ballistics report to be completed.
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Daily News