Keetmanshoop based defence lawyer Henry van Zyl is asking Windhoek High Court Acting Judge Philanda Christiaan to find his client, Kevin Mathew Cloete, not guilty and discharge him on a count of murder read with the provisions of the Combating of Domestic Violence Act.
Cloete is accused of murdering his stepfather – the boyfriend of his mother – Deon Bobeje, by stabbing him once in the chest during a violent confrontation at their residence in Krõnlein in Keetmanshoop. He pleaded not guilty to the charge, claiming he stabbed the victim in self-defence.
Cloete submitted a detailed plea explanation in which he explained that he had made a joke about them not playing with alcohol when the deceased jumped up and punched him in the face with a clenched fist and he punched back. Bobeje then went into the shack he shared with Cloete’s mother, fetched a knife from it, and made stabbing motions towards him, Cloete stated. He further said he then drew his own knife – a small pocketknife – from his pocket and stabbed the deceased once in the chest and he fell to the ground.
He then went to a nearby cafe to get help, he further explained, but Bobeje was declared dead on the scene. He vehemently denied that he had the intention to kill the deceased or that he foresaw that the deceased could die because of the stab wound as the knife he had used was small.
During their evidence-in-chief, however, two State witnesses testified that Bobeje was sitting in a chair when Cloete assaulted him with fists and kicked him.
They also said that it was Cloete who fetched a knife from the shack and made stabbing motions towards Bobeje and at first cut his pant’s leg open and stabbed him for the second time in the chest. According to the witnesses, the deceased did no retaliate or fight back.
During submissions on the verdict, Van Zyl called the integrity and reliability of the two witnesses into doubt. According to him, there is material inconsistencies and discrepancies between their oral testimonies and their statements as well as material differences in their respective testimonies.
On the other hand, he said, the testimony of the accused was clear, concise and to the point and remained uncontroverted throughout the trial. As a matter of fact, Van Zyl said the evidence of the accused was corroborated by documentary evidence.
According to him, the State failed to prove that Cloete did not act in self-defence or exceeded the bounds of self-defence when he stabbed the deceased. He said that a conviction in this matter will water down the Constitutional rights of citizens to protect themselves against unlawful attacks.
“A victim of imminent attack is allowed to use any means at their disposal to ward off an attack,” he told the judge.
State advocate Ian Malumani asked the court to convict Cloete on the charge he faces. He said, the State in conjunction with the admissions Cloete made, proved beyond a reasonable doubt that he killed Bobeje. In fact, he said the accused intended to kill the deceased from the words ‘today I will stab you, I will kill you’, he said to the deceased after he fetched the knife from the shack.
This was testified to by both the first and second State witnesses, Malumani said. In the end, Malumani said, it is for the judge to weigh the two versions presented by the State and the defence and decide which carried more weight. The judge has already dismissed a section 174 application for discharge lodged by Cloete after the State closed its case.
Judge Christiaan reserved her judgment until 01 July at 10h00.