One of the five men accused of being behind the Nomzamo Park massacre, which led to the deaths of 16 tavern patrons in Soweto, claims the murders were committed by members of a rival gang.
During his bail application in the Orlando magistrate’s court on Monday, the 48-year-old stated in his affidavit that his gang, Terene ea Khosi Mokata, was not involved in the mass killings.
The secretary of the gang and former officer attached to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (Hawks) told the court he was shocked when he was arrested for defeating the ends of justice when he took in perpetrators behind the shootings, who are rival gang members from the group Terene ea Khosi Chakela.
But when they got to the tavern they did not go inside to see if our members were still there, and they just started shooting while standing outside the tavern.
— Terene ea Khosi Mokata gang secretary
The high-ranking member, along with four others, are provisionally charged with 19 counts of murder, multiple counts of attempted murder, as well as charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances and defeating the ends of justice. Sixteen of the murders occurred at Mdlalose Tavern, and the other three were reported at the Kliptown and Orlando police stations. The court has barred the media from disclosing the identities of the accused.
In his affidavit, the former Hawks officer said accused one and accused two claimed to have been behind the massacre after they sought revenge against members of his gang for the murder of a Lesotho musician in Kliptown the week before the mass murders.
“On September 18 2022, I received a call that accused one wanted to see me with regards to the Nomzamo [Park] tavern shooting. When we spoke, he explained to me that the Nomzamo tavern shooting incident was a mistake. He explained that his father-in-law, who is accused two, and himself are members of Terene ea Khosi Chakela and that his father-in-law’s friend was shot and killed in Kliptown a week before the Nomzamo tavern shooting.
“They believed people from our burial society [gang] were responsible for the shooting in Kliptown. On the night of the Nomzamo tavern shooting some of the members of their burial society contacted them and told them there were people from our burial society at the Nomzamo tavern. Accused one and two, with other people from our burial society, went to Nomzamo tavern to kill the people from our burial society as revenge for the Kliptown shooting,” said the former officer.
“But when they got to the tavern they did not go inside to see if our members were still there, and they just started shooting while standing outside the tavern. Fortunately for our members, they had already left the tavern and the shooters killed some of their ownmembers,” he said.
The former Hawks officer said accused one wanted to see him because he wanted to cross the floor and join their society after receiving threats for shooting their own members in the tavern massacre.
Instead of allowing accused one to join his society, he said he offered to hand him over to the police because he was a former police officer and would ensure that no harm was brought to them.
“I made the necessary arrangements, and a few days later I handed him over at the Norwood police station,” he said.
Accused two was arrested in Kimberley, where he had been hiding.
“At Norwood police station the police suddenly arrested me as well for defeating the ends of justice,” he said.
The high-ranking member further claimed the police drove about with him and assaulted him while extracting statements from him before he appeared in court on September 26.
Magistrate A Morten postponed the bail hearing for January 16 2023, when the state is expected to call the investigating officer to testify in opposition to bail being granted.
Sunday Times previously reported the tavern massacre was a result of a long-standing feud between the two gangs which has seen at least at least 23 people murdered since the start of the rivalry.
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