Wisani insists witnesses 'fabricated' information
Patrick Wisani has told a court that the charges against him were all fabricated by witnesses in an elaborate conspiracy.
|||Johannesburg - Former ANC Youth League leader Patrick Wisani has told a court that the murder, assault and intimidation charges laid against him were all fabricated by witnesses in an elaborate conspiracy against him.
Wisani allegedly beat his girlfriend Nosipho Mandleleni to death with a broomstick and sjambok at a Yeoville house last September. An assault and intimidation charge was laid against him in May, after he allegedly assaulted and threatened Nosipho’s sister and State witness, Siphokazi, and her friend Zimbini Mathibe.
On Tuesday, Wisani, who is defending himself, applied for the trial to be discharged. He criticised the testimony of most of the State’s witnesses, saying they had either fabricated their evidence, been of poor quality or contradictory.
His application was rejected, and so he took to the witness stand in the high court sitting in Randburg to give his version of events.
After his testimony and cross- examination, Judge Mohamed Ismail asked Wisani why three of the State witnesses would give the court a completely fabricated version of events under oath. “On your version, it would appear that... the three of them are conspiring against you. Could you think of any plausible and rational reason they’re doing it?
“Why would they deliberately come to court and lie and get an innocent person convicted of murder when they know the real murderer will get off?” Judge Ismail asked.
Wisani responded that Mathibe held a grudge against him because they had previously dated and their break-up had been an unpleasant one. He claimed that he didn’t have a good relationship with his housemate, Zukiswa Solani, who had testified she heard Wisani and Nosipho arguing on the morning of her death.
“My interaction with her was not very good, to the point when in June last year, with the re-appointment of the community policing forum chair, she campaigned against me.”
Wisani said Siphokazi didn’t want him to date her sister and was angry with him for not letting her live in the same house.
Judge Ismail pointed out that the witnesses had gone to remarkable lengths then to implicate Wisani, by fabricating an assault and injuries, and making the effort to lay charges with the police and get a doctor’s report. “They are not only liars, they are dangerous people who'll commit perjury and even inflict injuries on themselves... That's very cunning.”
Wisani responded: “I don’t even think they understand their actions or know what perjury is.”
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The Star