Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

A Pretoria High Court judge on Friday acquitted a security guard on two charges of murder and one of attempted murder following a shooting incident at a Total garage on the Moloto Road near Cullinan.

Acting judge Kobus van Rooyen found that Joseph Mzamani Nkuna shot dead SANDF military policeman Lucky Skosana and another man, Dumile Mahlangu, in self-defence.

A third man, Robert Mnguni, was wounded during the incident on September 28, 2003, at the Jakkalsdans Shopping Centre.

Van Rooyen said Nkuna killed the men in "threatening circumstances" and that he acted within the bounds of self-defence.

The 45-year-old Nkuna earlier pleaded not guilty to the three charges against him. In giving evidence, he said he was terrible sorry that two people had lost their lives. Nkuna even referred to himself as "a murderer", but he told the court that he was so terrified when he thought his life was threatened by a group of men, that he fired several shots at them.

He told Van Rooyen that there was a robbery at the garage three weeks prior to this incident and he was under the impression that the garage was going to be robbed again when a car with five men drove into the petrol station. The occupants did not have shirts on and he was convinced they were under the influence of alcohol.

Blood samples taken of Skosana and Mahlangu after their deaths revealed that their alcohol levels were 0,75g (Skosana) and 0,40g per 100 ml of blood in the case of Mahlangu.

Nkuna said one of the men urinated against a petrol pump and slapped him (Nkuna) in the face when the accused reprimanded him about the urinating.

He said another man grabbed him around the head which resulted in him defecating and urinating in his trousers "in fear and pain."

Another man called him "Matshingelane" which is a humiliating expression for "just a security guard."

Nkuna claimed he then heard a shot and he was under the impression the men were armed. He testified that he fired several shots at the group until he saw two of the men falling to the ground.

Skosana was shot twice in the chest and Mahlangu suffered three bullet wounds - two in the back and one in the chest.

No firearms belonging to the group were later found on the scene.

But the judge said it is obvious that Nkuna believed they were armed and that he feared for his own life.

He said although Nkuna was flustered in the witness box, he demonstrated honesty and sincerity.

"Here is a man who had taken his job as security officer seriously, he had a licenced firearm and as a school kid he already worked in the afternoons to earn extra money.

"It is true that he is not a sophisticated or intellectual man with a special knowledge of security law. Yet his sincerity and dedication to service and safety was obvious," Van Rooyen said.

The judge said he accepted Nkuna's version of events.

" I accept that he, bona fide, believed his life or bodily integrity was at a serious risk and that he believed a robbery was in progress," the judge said.