Court told Chabani could not give birth

Court C at the Limpopo High Court's sitting in Thohoyandou on Friday was filled to capacity for the trial of the former Malamulele traffic officer Masingita Chabani.

Chabani (47) stands accused of abducting Hlulani Maswanganyi (17) and her one-month-old son, Trinity Mbavala.

The child was later found alive and reunited with the family.

Maswanganyi sent SMSes to relatives telling them that she feared for her life and that she was travelling to an unknown destination with suspicious people.

Hlulani is presumed dead after the confession by Chabani's accomplice, Steven Sithole. In a seperate trial, Sithole confessed to the killing and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He has since turned state witness in the case.

Even though he confessed, Maswanganyi's body has not been found.

The trial has been on for two weeks now and many witnesses, including relatives of Hlulani and Chabani, have been called to the witness stand by the State.

On Friday, local medical doctor Dr Khamusi Mudau, who Chabani said had treated her in 2015, told the court that it was impossible that Chabani could have given birth in 2015 as he had removed her womb in 2012.

Before he could take the witness stand, Adv Ronnie Rambau for Chabani objected, saying it would not be in the interest of his client that the patient/doctor relationship be compromised if his client's illness was divulged in court. Judge Francis Kganyago, however, allowed Mudau to testify.

In his testimony, Dr Mudau said a heavily pregnant woman came to see him at his surgery on the 20 July 2015. He said that the woman had documentation indicating that she was Masingita Chabani. He said the woman had a letter from a clinic indicating she was about to give birth, but she refused to be examined, saying she only wanted a letter to take to her work. He further testified that he was later approached by the police, who told him about Chabani and the case.

He added that he checked his files and found that Chabani was an old patient of his, adding that it was impossible that Chabani could have fallen pregnant, as he had removed her womb in 2012.

Chabani maintained she was pregnant and that she gave birth at Mudau's practice while Mudau was not present. Mudau challenged the accused and the defence to produce proof that she had given birth there, but they could not produce anything.

The trial will continue today, Friday, and it is suspected that an expert on cell phone transmissions will testify.

After the adjournment last Friday, family spokesman Wilson Mahlawule said he was happy that the wheels of justice were at long last moving with speed. "With whatever information is coming to the fore, we have a belief that the truth will finally come out one day and we will then be able to bury the remains of our loved one in a decent way. Our prayers are that she opens up and tells us where the body is," said Mahlawule.

Date:31 August 2017

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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