Deluxe Cabs driver murder trial ensues

Sharon Mathala | Thursday April 7, 2016 14:35

 

“At around 10pm Deluxe received a request for transporting services. A driver was sent to pick the clients, a few minutes later he was found dead with multiple stab wounds. The prosecution believes he was murdered,” Boitumelo said.  She added: “There was no eye witnesses, so the prosecution will solely rely on circumstantial evidence”. Matshidiso Boikanyo and Moabi Mabiletsa are both charged with the gruesome murder of a cab driver in Block 9 on September 13, 2013.

Oarabile Koketso (36), who was a call centre officer on duty at the time, said that on that fateful day, he received a call from a client at around 2100 hours. Koketso said the client who had a male voic, requested to be taken to University of Botswana (UB) from Eros Shopping Complex in Tlokweng. “The client then gave me a number where we could reach them, once the cab had arrived,” Koketso said. He said he located transport for the customers through their radio receiver. He told the courtroom half full with Deluxe Cabs workers, that another driver then tried to contact the number he had been given but the number was offline. “One of the drivers Mr Mudo, was the one who was nearer to the customers, I gave him the cell number to contact the customers and take them to their destination. Mudo later communicated that he had tried to call the number but it was switched off,” Koketso said. “The same number then rang again, but this time, they had changed the pick-up point  to Puma Filling Station. They apologised and said that they had erred in the number they had initially given me.

They corrected the number and I reassured them that a cab would be on the way.” The call centre operator continued: “I asked again through the radio receiver, who was closest to the client and this time it was Mopipi. He later confirmed that he had managed to pick up the customers but alerted me that they had now changed their destination from UB to Block 9”. Koketso stated that Mopipi’s call was the last he received until he knocked off at midnight. During cross-examination however, defence lawyer, Kabelo Nkwe quizzed Koketso how he was sure that the person he was speaking to over the phone was the same person who called the second time. Nkwe put it to the witness that there was a possibility that someone may have overheard the first caller on the phone and posed as him in the second call. Nkwe was also doubtful of the call centre officer’s evidence-in-chief, that he could not have known whether he was speaking to a man or woman over the phone. “I am sure that it was the same person because they gave me the same details as the first caller. The person even apologized for the error,” responded the witness.