THE murder trial involving Skeem Saam actress Amanda Manku’s dad, William Manku and his co-accused, David Khoza takes another dramatic turn.
Khoza took the witness stand during a trial-within-a-trial in the Polokwane High Court on Monday, 20 July.
Manku and Khoza are in custody facing double murder of Amanda’s mum and gogo, who were gunned down in May 2021.
The court is hearing evidence to determine whether statements allegedly made by Khoza were obtained lawfully.
During evidence led by his defence lawyer, Khoza told the court he was bust at the Lebombo border on 29 December 2023 by Home Affairs officials before being handed over to the cops.
He said he initially didn’t know the officers who collected him from Komatipoort, but they later introduced themselves.
Khoza testified that he was told the cops had come to fetch him in connection with another case in Thembisa, Ekurhuleni. He said conversations with the officers were mostly in English, although he repeatedly informed the court that he only speaks isiZulu and is not fluent in English.
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He further testified that after appearing in court on 29 December 2023, cops questioned him while driving back to Polokwane.
He said they stopped near Ivory Park, where he was asked about a man who allegedly bought him a motorcycle. However, he insisted no assault took place during that trip.
According to Khoza, matters changed on 8 January 2024 when he was fetched from the holding cells and taken to another office outside the police station.
“There were many police officers there,” he testified.
Khoza alleged that he was severely assaulted inside the office.
“They beat me a lot. One officer covered my head with plastic while others also took part. I couldn’t even tell who was assaulting me because there were many of them,” he told the court.
Although he said he suffered no visible wounds, Khoza claimed he sustained internal injuries.
He also denied police evidence that his rights were explained to him in Sepedi or Setswana, insisting he doesn’t understand either language and communicated only in isiZulu.
The trial-within-a-trial continues with Khoza on the stand.
