A businessman, Mziwethemba Harvey Gwabeni, who is an accused in the murder case of South African rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and his friend Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane, has claimed that the police gained unlawful entry to his home during his arrest.
Gwabeni, along with four other co-accused, is facing multiple charges, including two counts of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition, attempted murder, and money laundering. The accused have now applied for bail.
During the bail application in the Durban Magistrate’s Court, Gwabeni presented his case to the court and raised the issue of the police’s entry into his home.
He stated that he was not at home on the night of the incident and claimed that heavily armed policemen forcibly gained entry into his residence, which he deemed unnecessary. To support his claim, Gwabeni attached video footage of the raid to his affidavit.
However, the state disputed Gwabeni’s claim and read into the record the affidavit of the investigating officer, Warrant Officer Kumarasan Pillay. According to Pillay’s affidavit, the police gained entry lawfully and did not break into the accused’s home.
Gwabeni’s counsel, Advocate Paul Jorgenson, read out Gwabeni’s affidavit, in which he criticized the lack of transparency in describing the events of the arrest. Gwabeni argued that if the police had evidence to support their claim of lawful entry, then the person who allegedly paid for the hit on the rapper, Mfundo Gcaba, should have been arrested and charged as well.
Gwabeni also denied any involvement in the murder and disputed the allegation that R800,000 was paid into his business account by Mfundo Gcaba for the hit on the rapper. He stated that if the state had evidence to support this claim, Gcaba should have been arrested and charged as a co-accused.
Gwabeni attached a statement from the Gcaba family, vehemently denying Gcaba’s involvement in any illegal activities and explaining that the payment was for services rendered to Gwabeni’s company, Gwabs Mining.
The state alleges that Gwabs Mining received an amount of R803,455 under the pretext of consulting services, which was actually payment for the murder of AKA. It is further alleged that Gwabeni transferred over R100,000 into the bank accounts of each of the accused, including two individuals currently in custody in Eswatini awaiting extradition.
The state also claims that the money was paid by a company called Bright Circle into Gwabeni’s FNB account, and investigations revealed that Sydney Mfunda Gcaba was the sole director of Bright Circle. Phone records allegedly show that Gwabeni made a call to a number linked to Gcaba before the money was deposited.
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Gwabeni refutes these allegations and argues that neither he nor Gcaba had any motive to kill Forbes and his companion. He questions the state’s failure to provide a possible motive for his involvement in the murder and highlights the lack of evidence linking Gcaba to the crime.
The state and the defence will now file their written arguments regarding the bail application, and the matter will be heard again in May for further arguments before Magistrate Vincent Hlatshwayo makes a ruling on bail.
