A police CCTV analyst has spent several days in the witness box at the Durban High Court, taking the murder trial of rapper Kiernan "AKA" Forbes and Tebello "Tibz" Motsoane through surveillance footage, according to court reports.
Forbes and Motsoane were shot dead outside a restaurant on Florida Road, Durban, on 10 February 2023. Seven men are on trial. They are presumed innocent unless proven guilty and have reportedly pleaded not guilty.
What the court heard
The analyst, named in reports as Rajen Sanders (one report spells his surname Saunders), has forensically analysed CCTV footage to build a timeline of the moments before the killings.
He testified that the fourth accused allegedly followed Forbes from the airport to his hotel. He identified the fifth accused as the man seen on footage inside Wish restaurant, allegedly shadowing Forbes.
State prosecutor Lawrence Gcaba said the State will submit the fifth accused's bail record. In it, the accused reportedly filed an affidavit agreeing he was at the restaurant and had a meal there that day. The defence is expected to challenge the analyst's evidence in cross-examination, and more footage of Forbes's last moments is expected.
The charges and the accused
One report says the seven accused face 19 counts, including two of murder, five of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. We have not named the accused because reports spell at least one name differently. The judge is not named in the reports we reviewed.
What we do not yet know
- The outcome of cross-examination, and whether the defence disputes the identifications.
