State seeks to combine taxi boss murder case with rapper AKA's case
Accused number 3 in AKA’s murder case Siyanda Eddie Myeza standing.
Image: Doctor Ngcobo / Independent Newspapers
The State is looking to consolidate the 2022 murder case of taxi boss Sibongiseni Gift Khanyile with the murders of rapper Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes and chef Tebello ‘Tibz’ Motsoane.
The request was made by the State on Monday in the Durban High Court.
Siyanda Eddie Myeza, who is the third accused in the Forbes and Motsoane murders, appeared briefly in the high court.
Senior State prosecutor, Advocate Elvis Gcweka, informed the court that evidence of May 2022 murders of taxi owner Sibongiseni Gift Khanyile and Nhlakanipho Msani was received last week.
In the 2022 case, Myeza faces additional charges, including theft, conspiracy to commit murder, and two counts of attempted murder.
The State alleges that Myeza, Msani, and others currently unknown conspired to kill Khanyile.
Khanyile owned taxis operating under the Chesterville, Richmond, Berea, and Ntuzuma Taxi Associations.
The motive is believed to be feuds within the taxi industry over shared routes.
The alleged murder of Khanyile took place on May 6, 2022.
The suspects followed Khanyile to a BP filling station on Jan Smuts Highway in Mayville, and opened fire.
A shootout occurred between the suspects and the men accompanying Khanyile. Msani sustained gunshot injuries and was subsequently found inside a Toyota Etios.
Crucially, Myeza, who allegedly used a stolen Toyota Etios during the 2022 crimes, was later found in possession of a firearm that was used to kill Forbes in February 2023 outside Wish restaurant on Florida Road in Durban.
“There is evidence that Myeza handed the firearms to his co-accused (in AKA murder) to execute the plan. He received the same back because he was later found in possession of one of the murder weapons,” Warrant Officer Kumarasan Pillay previously stated.
Furthermore, the spent cartridges recovered from the 2022 crime scene, which bore Myeza’s fingerprints, were linked to the same gun used to kill Motsoane in 2023.
Representing Myeza, Sibusiso Dlamini told the court on Monday that the “defence has no objections to the consolidation of the matters.”
Myeza is scheduled to return to court on June 19 alongside his co-accused: Lindokuhle Thabani Mkhwanazi, Lindani Zenzele Ndimande, Mziwethemba Gwabeni, and Lindokuhle Lindo Ndimande.