The girlfriend of a Malabar man who was dragged out of his bed and shot dead in a predawn attack almost two years ago was adamant in court on Friday that she could identify his killers.
This was despite admitting that she had taken tik several hours before the attack, which claimed the life of Bradley Witbooi.
Testifying in the Gqeberha high court on Friday, the woman, who is not being named as she is under witness protection, pointed to Leshwin Felix, 27, and Igsaan Mallick, 29, as the men who broke into the Closemore Crescent home she shared with Witbooi at about 3am on April 22 2022.
Though she admitted that she had consumed the drugs about 12 hours before the incident, she said she had been fully aware of her surroundings.
“I could still understand what was happening around me,” the woman said.
She said Felix and Mallick had stormed into their bedroom and shone torches at the couple as they lay in their bed.
She said she had noticed a mark above both Mallick and Felix’s left eyebrows which identified them as members of the Upstand Dogs gang.
The pair allegedly dragged Witbooi outside and shot him several times.
At the start of their trial, Felix and Mallick both pleaded not guilty to one count of murder, one of kidnapping, one of the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, housebreaking with the intent to commit murder and contravening the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.
Earlier this week, the woman testified that she had known Witbooi, her boyfriend of two years and a self-confessed gangster, had feared for his life before the shooting.
After the woman’s testimony on Friday, Warrant Officer Sherwin Walsh of the police’s provincial crime scene management unit told the court that when he reconstructed the scene he had used two scenarios to determine if the witness was able to see the gunmen while a light was shone in her face.
Walsh said if the light was shone directly into her eyes it would make identification highly unlikely.
However, if the light was shone at a downward angle, identification would be possible.
Felix was arrested on the day of the shooting and Mallick was arrested the next day. Both men are in custody.
The trial continues.
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