Lusikisiki massacre: State witness tells court alleged mastermind tried to recruit him to kill a witness

LUSIKISIKI - A State witness in the Lusikisiki mass murder case told the court that accused 1, Mzukisi Ndamase, tried recruiting him to kill another witness on his behalf.

The witness, who has been identified as a neighbour to Ndamase, testified in the mass murder trial sitting in the Mthatha High Court in Lusikisiki on Wednesday. 

He said that the accused called him while in prison, where he is serving a life imprisonment for murder.

According to the State, Ndamase is the mastermind behind the killing of the 18 victims in Ngobozana Village in the Eastern Cape in September last year.

The first person to testify in this mass murder trial on Wednesday told the court that Ndamase called him while serving time in the Mthatha prison.

He testified that this was back in 2021, after his brother was killed, and that Ndamase was the one who told him who the alleged killers were.  

The witness also told the court that his deceased brother worked for Ndamase, although he did not reveal details on the kind of work he did.

He told the court that Ndamase then tried recruiting him to kill a witness for him.

During cross-examination, Ndamase denied having sent the witness to kill anyone.