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Scott-Crossley denies trying to run farmworker over

Scott-Crossley allegedly drove over Mabunda with his Jeep in December 2016 in Hoedspruit, outside Tzaneen, after the two had an altercation two hours earlier

Mark Scott-Crossley appearing in Lenyenye Magistrate’s Court in September 2018.
Mark Scott-Crossley appearing in Lenyenye Magistrate’s Court in September 2018.
Image: ANTONIO MUCHAVE

“The manner in which I was speeding on that day if had hit Mabunda he was not going to survive... if I had driven over him I would have smashed his head and broke his shoulders.”

This is how ex-convict Mark Scott-Crossley, who is accused of the attempted murder of farmworker Silent Mabunda, defended himself in the Lenyenye magistrate's court on Wednesday. Scott-Crossley allegedly drove over Mabunda with his Jeep in December 2016 in Hoedspruit, outside Tzaneen, after the two had an altercation two hours earlier.

Mabunda, who now walks on crutches, sat in the courtroom and shook his head as Scott-Crossley gave evidence.  

Taking the stand in his trial for the first time since 2018, Scott-Crossley lost his temper in court and ordered his lawyer to stop talking as he wanted to give oral evidence. “Wait! I'm not a lawyer, I'm just a guy who is fighting for his life. I have been represented by others before you. Please give me a chance to represent myself,” he told his lawyer.

A suspected racial attack has left Silence Mabunda on crutches, five years it happened.
A suspected racial attack has left Silence Mabunda on crutches, five years it happened.
Image: PETER RAMOTHWALA

Scott-Crossley, who is also charged with malicious damage to property, has denied that he wanted to kill Mabunda, saying he would have been a dead man if he had knocked him down with Jeep.

He is also accused of breaking Mabunda's phone on that particular day.

Scott-Crossley said though his Jeep is high, Mabunda couldn’t have fitted underneath the vehicle due to his big body. “So there is no way that I could have driven over him two times,” he said. 

In 2018 Mabunda told the court that he saw Scott-Crossley driving slowly past him along the road after their altercation at a shopping complex in Hoedspruit where he had gone to buy airtime. At the time he testified that after Scott-Crossley drove past, he made a U-turn and drove towards him.

“I saw a vehicle driving past and I didn't pay much attention. The vehicle made a U-turn and came speeding towards my direction and I could see it was a silver Jeep,” he said.

Scott-Crossley had walked into court carrying a black bag of papers which he later handed to his lawyer. Some of his bag’s contents were pictures of his damaged vehicle and accident scene.

Scott-Crossley said he was not that angry with Mabunda to the point where he wanted to kill him. “I could have killed myself and the damage done to my car is huge. There is no evidence that there was a person between my car and the brick wall at the time of the accident,” he said.

There was drama earlier when Scott-Crossley refused to take his oath of affirmation by lifting his right hand, resulting in a brief adjournment. “Due to religious reasons I can't lift my right hand. But I don't have a problem with repeating after you but I can't raise my hand,” he said.

Magistrate Carol Honwana went to her chambers and returned to grant Scott-Crossley his wish. His lawyer Karl van Tonder told the court that there is a likelihood that the next witnesses will be two journalists who wrote about the story and interviewed Mabunda.

The court postponed the matter until on Thursday.

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