A second suspect arrested in connection with a Mpumalanga tavern shooting in which eight people died has a previous conviction for violence.
The KaBokweni magistrate's court heard on Thursday during Mduduzi Khehla Lubisi's first appearance that he has a previous conviction for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH).
Lubisi, 43, was arrested in Mbombela (Nelspruit) on Tuesday for the murder of eight people at Lavisa Lifestyle tavern at Pienaar outside Mbombela last Saturday.
Lubisi is the second person to be arrested for the killings after Patrick Bongani Nkosi, 39, was arrested on Sunday.
They face eight charges of murder, two of attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and possession of unlicensed firearms.
The accused has a previous conviction where he was given a five months prison sentence or a R5,000 fine in 2017 for assault GBH.
— Benet Jali
Prosecutor advocate Benet Jali told the court about Lubisi's 2017 conviction.
“The accused has a previous conviction where he was given a five months prison sentence or a R5,000 fine in 2017 for assault GBH.”
Jali also said Lubisi's case should be merged with Nkosi's. He requested that the matter be postponed so they can apply for bail.
Magistrate Nandi Mhlanga postponed the case to January 22 for a formal bail application.
During a media briefing on Wednesday, Mpumalanga acting police commissioner Maj-Gen Zeph Mkhwanazi said reconstruction of the scene revealed what happened before the killings.
Information was that the victims were travelling in two VW Polos and went to Lavisa Lifestyle on Friday night.
“After reconstruction of the crime scene, we concluded that one of the men in the two Polos was shooting randomly, not in the direction of anyone but in the air. They left Lavisa Lifestyle tavern and went to another one where he [the gunman] continued to do random shooting.”
The group returned to Lavisa in the early hours of Saturday and as they were getting out of the cars the gunman started shooting randomly again. That was when the two suspects suddenly emerged and started shooting at them.
After the shooting no gun was found at the scene, including those of the deceased.
“Six of the victims died on the scene while two died in hospital and two were hospitalised. One of them has since been discharged,” said Mkhwanazi.
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