Lusikisiki massacre: Key witness expands on how accused 1 committed murders while in prison

LUSIKISIKI - The key witness in the Lusikisiki massacre trial has revealed that the first accused, Mzukisi Ndamase, has committed murders while inside prison cells.

The witness was a fellow prison inmate and a close confidant of the accused.

Ndamase stands accused of orchestrating the Lusikisiki massacre in which 18 people were shot and killed in Ngobozana village in September last year.

He and his five co-accused are back in the Mthatha High Court sitting in Lusikisiki for the trial.

The State’s key witness returned to the stand on Friday.

He has testified that in 2021, accused Ndamase called him while behind bars.

He said he asked him to monitor the movements of someone named Sncane, a long-time friend of Ndamase, who he allegedly claimed had neglected him after he was jailed.

The witness added that the accused later ordered him to kill Sncane.

However, he said he refused to do so as he had no intention to commit murder.

In August 2023, he explained, Ndamase called him again, informing him that he had killed a woman named Nomakhosi for allegedly bewitching his mother.

He also told him one of his soldiers carried out the hit on Nomakhosi and another person.

The court proceedings continue as the State prosecutor, Advocate Mfundo Makhubalo, leads evidence.