A soldier accused of shooting dead his girlfriend’s sister and a friend told the Ntuzuma Magistrate’s Court on Friday that he would plead not guilty when he stands trial.
Thembinkosi American Ngcobo made the assertion while being questioned during his bail application.
Ngcobo told the court that he did not want to answer questions in relation to the crimes which he is alleged to have committed and would only do so when he stands trial.
Ngcobo, a soldier with the 8 South African Infantry Battalion, is alleged to have fled his post in Upington last month as he was due to go on guard duty and then drove down to Durban in a fit of jealousy where he shot his girlfriend’s sister and her friend. A policeman was also wounded in the January 31, incident.
Grilled by Prosecutor Sipho Mzimakwe, Ngcobo answered many questions with the following response: “May I respond to the question on the date of the trial?”
The court heard that Ngcobo was the father of two small children and that he was helping his father to support his family in Durban’s Inanda area where he grew up.
Ngcobo, who joined the army in January 2013 said he could afford bail of R2000.
Earlier, in the day, Mzimakwe applied unsuccessfully to have the bail hearing postponed.
The bail hearing was adjourned to February 28 to be completed.
– African News Agency (ANA)
