'Bullet missed kids, hit Bible'

Woman tells court how she survived her lover's bloody rampage after allegedly warning her: "If you don't love me, I'll kill our kids"

A WEST Rand woman yesterday gave a chilling account of how an enraged and jealous former lover shot her father before firing at her and their two children.

Phindile Tshabalala told Johannesburg high court Judge Lotter Wepener how former boyfriend Lebogang Freddy Dakota entered her home in Swaneville near Kagiso and began an argument with her father.

Dakota is facing charges of murder, attempted murder, assault, kidnapping, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Dakota has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Tshabalala said she heard Dakota say the following words to her father, Sipho Dlwathi, before hearing two gunshots: "I am going to do my thing. I told you that today is your day."

Tshabalala testified that after the shots Dakota looked through an open window to one of the bedrooms, demanded she come out and fired one shot into the room.

Tshabalala said her two children, aged 3 and 4, were in the room with her and nearly got shot when a bullet flew past them.

Recalling the day's events, Tshabalala said: "I was at home sitting with my father and children, just having a conversation.

"I heard Lebogang's car stop outside the house. My father was outside as well. I heard him (Dakota) say 'I warned you'."

Tshabalala, frightened and fearing for her life, opened the lounge window and screamed to her father and neighbour before running to her bedroom.

"I heard the first gunshot and then the second, which struck the (outside) wall."

After a few minutes of silence Dakota looked in at the bedroom window .

"He put the gun through the window and said I should come out. I pretended to look for the key (to unlock the door) but I didn't open it.

"He fired one shot and continued to insult me, saying 'Open the door, you bitch. I will shoot you now'.

The bullet "flew past us and struck two Bibles".

After eventually forcing Tshabalala to open the door Dakota forced her and the two children into his car and drove off to a nearby field.

While in the car Dakota showed her a cartridge and said it was live but "I threw it out of the window".

Realising the gun was missing, Tshabalala said, the accused stopped the car and beat her up with an iron rod "on the floor of the car".

Speaking through his lawyer, Dakota denied that he had gone to Tshabalala's home to harm her but rather to visit their two children.

He said he and Tshabalala had agreed on this arrangement the previous day.

Dakota also denied firing shots at Dlwathi, arguing that he and the deceased "wrestled" over the gun after Dlwathi produced it.

Tshabalala said her father did not own a gun.

Tensions between Tshabalala and Dakota heightened on the day before her father's alleged murder.

Tshabalala said the accused came to her home on September 3, asking that the two reconcile following a break-up in December 2009.

They had been dating for seven years.

She said after she refused he threatened her children, "saying things like if I was not going to love him back, he would kill our children".