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GIRL DESCRIBES TRIP TO 'DEATH CAR'

Dudu Busani

Dudu Busani

Mulalo Sivhidzho drove her sister-in-law and a friend to where her husband's car was on fire and he lay trapped in the boot.

She is on trial in the Johannesburg high court for the murder of her husband Avhatakali Netshisaulu.

Netshisaulu's 11-year-old sister was in the car with Sivhidzho and a family friend, Awelani Muhanelwa, when they went to look for him on the night he was murdered. She testified in a closed court.

After driving around the area for a short while they reached a T-junction and had to decide which way to go.

"Awelani said we should go right, but Mulalo insisted we go left," the girl said. "Even after he told her that taking a left would be dangerous because there is a lion park on that side, she insisted. We turned left and came across something burning."

The girl also said that Muhanelwa suggested they go to a nearby police station. Sivhidzho refused, saying the police had refused to help her when she spoke to them earlier.

Muhanelwa suggested they go to another police station but Sivhidzho still refused

The girl also testified about Sivhidzho's disappearance in a shopping mall shortly before her brother was killed.

"We were in a shop," she said. "I looked for Mulalo because we could not find her anywhere. I looked at the pay points and in the fitting rooms but could not find her. She returned after a long time."

During cross-examination, Sivhidzho's legal counsel, Christo Meiring, asked the girl why she had not mentioned the two-hour disappearance in the statement she made to the police after the accused's arrest.

She said: "At that time I did not have a clear recollection of what had happened that night. I only started remembering clearly after I healed from the hurt my brother's death had caused me."

Netshisaulu was murdered in 2006. He was burnt beyond recognition inside the boot of his car.

His widow, Sivhidzho, and co-accused Ntabudzeni Matsenene and Arnold Sello are on trial for his murder.

The trial continues.

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