Prince Zulu's housemate tells court he rejected 'threesome sex' offer

Nkosi Msimang, the housemate of the late Prince Lethukuthula Zulu, told the high court in Johannesburg that one of the women accused of murdering Zulu had offered to join him and another accused in a bedroom rendezvous.

Msimang told the court that while sleeping with Portia Molla, Margaret Koaile, 42, accused number 3, walked into the bedroom and started flashing her private parts at him.

“She wanted to join us and I rejected her offer. I can’t remember what happened next because I passed out,” he said.

Earlier, Msimang told the court he had mixed the identities of Molla and Gontse Tlhoele, accused number 2. A day before, he gave testimony that he had slept with Tlhoele. 

“If the court allows, I would like to rectify that I had mixed the identities of accused number 2 and number 4. In my testimony, where I mentioned accused 2, it was accused number 4,” he said.

According to Msimang, he realised his error only when he arrived home on Tuesday after giving testimony.

“I went through the photos of the accused that I found in an online article and that’s when I realised my mistake. Accused 4 has gained a lot of weight from the last time I saw her and she is also lighter now in complexion,” he said.

That very mix-up is what the defence tried to use to discredit his testimony.

Advocate Pheane Lebea for Koaile and Molla told Msimang that he is not a credible witness and asked him if he was telling the court what he imagined or what he knows happened on the day he and the deceased were with his clients.

Msimang maintained he was telling the court what he knows happened.

Lebea then asked him how he could mix up the identities of the two women. He also maintained his client, Molla, had lost weight since her incarceration and not gained weight as suggested by Msimang.

Lebea went to the testimony of Ntando Hove, a witness and the neighbour of Msimang and Zulu.

Hove was one of the people who were first on the scene after the discovery of Zulu’s body.

“The witness said you woke up naked and went to the bathroom in that state. He said you were disorientated and you looked confused. This is not what you told the court. Your version is that you woke up and wrapped yourself with a towel, before going to the bedroom of the deceased,” Lebea said, adding that those were some of the points that made him conclude that Msimang was not a credible witness.

Lebea also put it to Msimang that when he went with his client to their flat in Northwold to fetch money so they could settle the bill, he was constantly on the phone during the drive back.

“My client will tell this court that at some point, you stopped under the bridge where you gave money (between R400 and R600) to an African male and he gave you a parcel in exchange. The whole thing happened within a minute,” he said.

Msimang, however, dismissed the say as untrue and said he never stopped under any bridge.

Earlier. Msimang told the court that the four women had stolen R60,000 cash that was kept in a black bag. The legal representatives of the four women all dismissed this as untrue. 

Advocate Vincent Soko for Tlhoele, [accused 2] put it to him that his client said the only money they found in the house was actually R3,000, of which his client only received R750.

“Accused 4 came out of a room and asked accused 2 to go to the room where accused 1 was. They found accused 1 and the deceased having sex and they then left the deceased's room and went to the lounge. Accused 2 then opened a drawer and money fell out. She says an argument then broke out between them. Accused 2 will dispute that they took R60,000 from your flat,” Soko said. 

The trial will resume on Friday when the state is expected to call more witnesses.

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