AKA’s murder trial heard a police officer explain why he identified a defendant in airport footage the defense had challenged.
AKA‘s murder trial has a new answer to a disputed question: a police officer says he recognized the defendant shown following the South African rapper at the airport.
The officer, who collects CCTV evidence, told the Durban High Court that the man was Mziwethemba Gwabeni, one of the seven accused, according to an October 22 report from SABC News.
He said he knew Gwabeni from past encounters in police cells, other footage and news reports. The officer was convinced Gwabeni was the man seen behind AKA and his group at King Shaka International Airport.
His account also explained how police reached that view. The case’s investigating officer first pointed to someone in the video. The CCTV officer then took a closer look and agreed.
“We then came to the conclusion that it was the same person,” he told the court.
All seven men deny the charges. The state still has to prove its case against each of them. No verdict has been reached.
The case includes murder, conspiracy, attempted murder and gun charges.
The distinction matters because the earlier airport witness did not identify Gwabeni. When the state showed the footage on October 19, it did not ask the airport’s analyst to identify the man seen near AKA.
Gwabeni’s lawyer, William Nicholson, argued that the person could not be identified and that the analyst lacked the ability to do so.
The court saw AKA stop at a car-rental counter. A man stood near the entrance, then appeared to follow the rapper toward the parking lot. That sequence put the identity dispute at the heart of the airport evidence.
The analyst also described a limit on the airport’s system: it could not export the footage to other devices. He could produce still images, which he had supplied to the state.
Police had already alleged at a bail hearing that Gwabeni followed AKA. The latest account adds a trial witness’s stated basis for identifying him, rather than leaving that claim with the earlier bail case.
AKA and Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane were killed in Durban on February 10, 2023. All seven accused have pleaded not guilty.