Chronicle Editor
Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Court Reporter
THE judgment date for the two siblings from the Midlands province who ganged up and allegedly murdered a taxi driver in Bulawayo and a shop owner in Inyathi in Matabeleland North before stealing their property worth more than US$6 000 has been set for February 17.
Freddy Dube (36) of Toro village in Lower Gweru and Thinkwell Moyo (38) of Silobela allegedly fatally axed Dumenkosini Sibanda (26), a Bulawayo pirate taxi driver on April 16, 2018 and robbed him of his car, a Honda Fit.
They later travelled to Inyathi where they fatally stabbed Andile Ncube (21), a flea market trader and robbed him of his merchandise which they loaded into the stolen car.
Dube and Moyo born of the same mother but different fathers, appeared before Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Nokuthula Moyo facing two counts of murder.
Dube, yesterday took to the witness stand and denied the charges.
He told the court that he never participated in the robberies and murder of the two deceased persons
“I was at my parents’ rural home when Thinkwell came home in the company of his friend known as Fixon Moyo and they were driving a Honda Fit which had no number plates and it was loaded with clothes, blankets, radio, laptop and cellphones. They indicated to us that the clothes and other property were for sale and no one suspected that they were stolen,” said Dube.
Moyo, in his defence, said the stolen goods belonged to Fixon who had approached him to assist in selling the property for a commission.
“On April 17, 2018, I received a phone call from my friend Fixon Moyo and he informed me that he had clothes which he was selling and wanted me to assist him. I then told him to bring the clothes to my rural home where people would buy the clothes and blanket in exchange for maize,” he said.
“We made arrangements and met before we drove to my rural home in Silobela in a silver Honda Fit, which had no number plates. Upon arrival, the only person we found at home was Freddy Dube. We dumped the clothes and left for Cross Roads where Fixon wanted to meet his girlfriend and Freddy joined us.”
Moyo said upon arrival in Cross Roads, Fixon indicated to him that he had some urgent business to attend to in Bulawayo.
“Fixon left the car in my custody and went to Bulawayo. We sold one of the cellphones to raise money for fuel to travel back to Silobela,” he said.
Moyo said he later drove to Gwanda where he intended to see his family using the stolen Honda Fit.
“While driving to Silalatshani from Gwanda, the car developed a puncture and I left it at the spot to seek for assistance in the nearby homesteads. On my way back, I saw police officers standing near the car and since I didn’t have a driver’s licence, I decided to avoid them and abandoned the car. I looked for lifts and travelled to Bulawayo where I gave the keys to Fixon,” said Moyo.
Chief Public Prosecutor, Mrs Tariro Rosa Takuva who was being assisted by Blessing Gundani, said Sibanda, who operated a Honda Fit pirate taxi in Bulawayo’s Central Business District, was last seen by his employer on April 16 in 2018 at about 5.30PM parked at corner Herbert Chitepo Street and 6th Avenue while touting for customers.
The court heard that Sibanda informed his employer that he was waiting for his customer whom he wanted to pick at around 8PM.
It is alleged that the two accused persons hired Sibanda before they later robbed and killed him.
“On the same day at about 7PM, one Kudakwashe Mavhengere was driving to his plot in MacDonald area in Bulawayo along a dusty road when he discovered Sibanda lying motionless on the roadside in a pool of blood,” said Mrs Takuva.
Mr Mavhengere immediately made a report to the police who attended the scene.
According to a post mortem report, the cause of death was a stab wound on the neck, assault, haemorrhage shock and perforated left jugular vein.
On May 30, detectives from Lupane CID went to Dube’s homestead and recovered more stolen goods from the people who had bought the items. The goods included several blankets, solar panels, shoes and radios. Mr Tinashe Runganga of Tanaka Law Chambers is representing Freddy while Mr Tapelo Ndebele of Lazarus and Sarif Legal Practitioners is representing Thinkwell. — @mashnets
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