“Police were telling me I’m going to jail for a long time if I don’t speak about who paid me off or what I did to kill the person. I told them I don’t know anyone who died as I have never seen a dead person.
“I told them I was not bought by anyone. I asked them to show me a picture of the person who is dead. One officer hit me with an open hand.
“That’s when I started fighting with him. I said I won’t give them a statement,” she said.
They went to Roodepoort police station where “a lot of police came and they all wanted to see us”.
“That’s when police started to hit us. Each would come and beat us with an open hand and ask questions.
“I can’t tell who assaulted me or how many because most were against me after an officer told them we had an altercation in the vehicle. Mofokeng [The police officer] said 'this one who knows too much will remain in Krugersdorp' because there was a space for two female prisoners
“He took me to the cells and gave me a document to sign. I was crying.
“ A female officer switched on her phone and showed me a picture of the person I’m alleged to have killed. I told her I don’t know him.”
Zulu, 50, was found dead by security guards at his home in a residential complex in Northwold in Johannesburg on November 6 2020.
The son of the late Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu died of a cocaine overdose, post-mortem results showed.
The court previously heard that the accused charged with his murder were alleged to be part of a syndicate that allegedly drugged and robbed people. They allegedly stole a microwave, television sets and cash at Zulu’s apartment.
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‘I didn’t know him’, says murder accused in Prince Lethukuthula case
Image: KZN Provincial Government via Twitter
An accused in the murder case of Prince Lethukuthula Zulu has claimed she was assaulted by police officers several times when she was arrested for the murder in 2020.
Portia Mmola, 30, testified in the Johannesburg High Court on Tuesday against police officers who arrested her and Tshefogatso Moremane, 30, Margaret Koaile, 42, and Gontse Tlhoele, 30.
She said after they were arrested in Nana Sita Street in the Pretoria CBD in November 2020, they experienced assaults and harassment, starting at the Pretoria Central police station.
“They would shout ‘you kill men’. We didn’t know what they were yelling at us for. They took us to a room [at Pretoria Central]. A female cop came and asked the male officer why there was no female officer when they were so many females in [suspects]. There was no female officer when they arrested us,” said Mmola.
The accused was with the other suspects taken to and detained in Krugersdorp.
“I had an altercation with the police en route. I told them I wasn’t going to tell them anything because I have a lawyer.
Prince Zulu's housemate tells court he rejected 'threesome sex' offer
“Police were telling me I’m going to jail for a long time if I don’t speak about who paid me off or what I did to kill the person. I told them I don’t know anyone who died as I have never seen a dead person.
“I told them I was not bought by anyone. I asked them to show me a picture of the person who is dead. One officer hit me with an open hand.
“That’s when I started fighting with him. I said I won’t give them a statement,” she said.
They went to Roodepoort police station where “a lot of police came and they all wanted to see us”.
“That’s when police started to hit us. Each would come and beat us with an open hand and ask questions.
“I can’t tell who assaulted me or how many because most were against me after an officer told them we had an altercation in the vehicle. Mofokeng [The police officer] said 'this one who knows too much will remain in Krugersdorp' because there was a space for two female prisoners
“He took me to the cells and gave me a document to sign. I was crying.
“ A female officer switched on her phone and showed me a picture of the person I’m alleged to have killed. I told her I don’t know him.”
Zulu, 50, was found dead by security guards at his home in a residential complex in Northwold in Johannesburg on November 6 2020.
The son of the late Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu died of a cocaine overdose, post-mortem results showed.
The court previously heard that the accused charged with his murder were alleged to be part of a syndicate that allegedly drugged and robbed people. They allegedly stole a microwave, television sets and cash at Zulu’s apartment.
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Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
READ MORE:
‘Sorry,’ says woman accused of murdering Zulu prince as she leaves bail hearing
Prince Lethukuthula Zulu died of drug overdose before robbery, court hears
Prince Lethukuthula Zulu died after 'night of booze, drugs and sex' in Joburg
'I entertained him sexually,' Zulu prince's murder accused tells court
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