NPA drops suitcase murder confession bombshell
In a surprising twist, the National Prosecuting Authority said murder accused Alutha Pasile, 25, had confessed to killing 23-year-old Fort Hare law student, Nosicelo Mtebeni, in a fit of jealousy, by pushing her up against the wall, causing fatal injuries.
NPA spokesperson Anelisa Ngcakani made the astounding statement to a group of journalists outside the East London magistrate’s court.
She was speaking on the sidelines of a 1,000-strong crowd mostly of women who expressed their fury over the murder and gender-based violence.
The confession did not feature in the brief court session in which Pasile, wearing black jeans and a navy jacket, appeared in a packed courtroom to face a charge of murder.
He looked calm throughout and spoke in a soft voice. He looked back at the gallery twice. His eyes showed nothing.
He abandoned his bid for bail and refused legal representation.
Outside, Ngcakani went on to release intimate details from the confession, saying this was an open and shut case which included statements from key witnesses.
In his confession, Ngcakani said Pasile had claimed his girlfriend’s behaviour had changed when she returned from visiting her rural family in early August.
“He said, all of sudden, she had barred him from accessing her cellphone. She had never minded him going through her cellphone before.”
Pasile allegedly confessed that when Mtebeni was asleep on the night of August 16 after a night of drinking, he stole her cellphone, “guessed” the password and unlocked it.
Pasile confessed to seeing “love messages between her and another boyfriend”, and a photograph of the other man.
He claimed that they argued the next day and it then became physical.
Ngcakani said: “He alleges that she bit him and scratched him and, in retaliation, he pushed her against the wall, and she was injured in the back of her head and the front and started foaming,resulting in her sustaining fatal injuries.”
Magistrate Annemarie Elliott postponed the case to September 28 for further investigation and to allow the court to obtain a postmortem report, statements from four witnesses, DNA evidence, and CCTV footage.
Elliott said the case would be escalated to a higher court.
Many in the crowd outside and in court were Nosicelo’s University of Fort Hare friends and activists from the East London and Alice campuses.
The university declared Wednesday an official day of mourning and will hold a memorial service.
Outside, the crowd, was spread out across the pavement and into the road which was blocked off at either end by police in three vans and BCM law enforcement staff in two patrol vehicles.
The crowd marched into the area full of passion and fury, all wearing black.
There they were given T-shirts with Nosicelo’s face emblazoned on it, and the words “Rest in peace” below.
They held up placards which proclaimed: #AmINext, #JusticeForNosicelo, #StopKillingUs, and #ReturnDeathPenalty.
Nosicelo’s distraught mother Ntombizodwa met Fort Hare management as well as premier Oscar Mabuyane on Sunday.
She was too distraught to speak to the media.
In the crowd were representatives of many organisations from across the province who were there to show solidarity.
UFH East London campus SRC member Anande Neti, gave a fiery address in which her voice shook with anger.
“I am pleading to men of this society to stop killing and abusing us. Why does it feel like a sin to be a woman?
“Why must we always be paranoid when we walk back to our residential areas?”
The crowd roared its approval and urged her to say more and say it loudly.
Politicians and party members were politely but firmly asked to remove the party regalia they were wearing.
Party officials wrapped Nosicelo’s mother in an ANC shawl when she visited the crime scene on Sunday.