Durban — The Durban magistrate who acquitted a murder-accused warrant officer who had been attached to the controversial Durban Organised Crime Unit, also previously known as the Cato Manor “Death Squad”, said had the State relied on the doctrine of common purpose, it could have possibly been successful in getting a conviction.
On Tuesday Warrant Officer Gonasagren Padayachee was found not guilty of the 2010 murder of 16-year-old Kwazi Ndlovu.
The teen was shot and killed while asleep on a sofa in the lounge of his Esikhawini home after members of the unit burst into his home and fired shots in his direction. The unit had been in search of an escaped Westville prisoner.
Members claimed the teen had a gun, however, his parents testified that the gun had been planted at the scene as no one in the household owned a firearm.
By 2023, Padayachee had become a Detective Warrant Officer with the Hawks.
He is no stranger to the dock.
In 2012, he was among 27 officers, mostly former members of the disbanded Organised Crime Unit, Cato Manor, in court facing 116 charges involving 45 murders, among other alleged crimes.
The charges were withdrawn some years later, but in 2016, former National Prosecuting Authority head Shaun Abrahams reinstated these and in 2019 his successor, Shamila Batohi, withdrew them following an internal investigation by a panel that reviewed them.
With the doctrine of common purpose, the State would not have had the onus to prove that the accused was the sole shooter, but could present evidence to the court to the effect that he had acted in common purpose with members of the unit causing the death of the teen.
In her judgment on Tuesday, Regional Court acting magistrate V Alamachand said Kwazi lost his life in one of the “most catastrophic manners”. Alamachand said that while she understood that due to the case being 14 years old and evidence had eroded, it was unsatisfactory that the State had used copies of statements in the case.
“It is most unfortunate that the evidence has eroded to such an extent that there are no ballistics reports, or fingerprints presented to this court to assist the State in proving its case.
“I sympathise with the family of the deceased, but the court has to deal with the law and facts before it, especially since there was no ballistics in terms of cartridges that were at the scene.
“The only evidence there was, was the bullet head retrieved in this matter and it was damaged.
“In the circumstances, the State failed to prove that the accused is guilty of murder,” said Alamachand.
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