The trial of a Gqeberha man accused of throwing his girlfriend off a fourth-floor balcony got underway in the city's High Court on Tuesday.
Malibongwe Dwabayo, 55, is accused of the premeditated murder of his 39-year-old girlfriend, Andiswa Mpiyana.
Her body was discovered on 3 July 2022 in the parking lot of the block of flats where the couple lived in Central.
State witness Buzwe Qgonqo testified that the couple were embroiled in a verbal altercation at a party at a house in Campbell Street in Richmond Hill, a day before Mpiyana's body was found.
According to Qgonqgo it was his maternal aunt's birthday.
He said he had known the accused prior to the party and that the accused had introduced Mpiyana as his girlfriend when they arrived.
According to the witness, he left the party at some stage to buy cigarettes.
Upon his return to the house Mpiyana and his aunt were embroiled in an argument.
He said the accused was not happy with the deceased's behaviour and told her that she was embarrassing him in front of others.
Later that evening Qgonqgo left the party and went to Dash Tavern for drinks, where to his surprise he ran into Mpiyana.
He told the court that Mpiyana had said to him that the accused had thrown her out of the party.
During the cross-examination of Defence Advocate Elsabet Theron, Qgonqgo said Mpiyana and Dwabayo were drinking at the party.
He said he was not aware of what had sparked the argument between Mpiyana and his aunt, but that he tried to intervene because his aunt was a sensitive person.
Theron questioned the witness about his statement to the investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Ridwaan Baatjies.
He conceded that when giving the statement three days after the incident he did not remember Mpiyana's name and that Baatjies had given it to him.
He added that the more Baatjies spoke, the more he "remembered", because the accused had introduced Mpiyana as his girlfriend.
Theron asked the witness about a part in his statement where he mentioned that "the two of them had to be separated" during the fight and that Dwabayo got angry at the deceased and shouted at her.
He denied that he had relayed this to Baatjies or that the accused had chased Mpiyana away from his flat.
The witness mentioned that he is not well versed in English and that Baatjies had brought along a Xhosa interpreter when he took down his statement.
He also said the statement was not read back to him before he was told to sign it.
State prosecutor Ismat Cerfontein also led the evidence of a Police Sergeant who was first called out to the scene, and a technician who provided Baatjies with CCTV footage taken at the flat that is relevant to Mpiyana's death.
The trial continues.
