Pretoria -
He was offered R20 to keep quiet about seeing three Pakistani men carrying a body down the stairs behind the Crazy Supermarket in Montana and putting the body into a car, before driving off.
The man, who is under witness protection, was testifying in the high court in Pretoria on Wednesday.
The witness, who may only be identified as J, took the stand to testify against Mohammed Shabbir and Abdul Rana Rauf, who are facing a murder charge following the death of Usman (Sunny) Saeed.
Saeed was a businessman who had a car parts stall at the Montana Traders Market, north of Pretoria.
He was allegedly abducted on December 15, 2013, from the parking area at the market.
His hands were apparently tied together before he was forced inside the vehicle.
He was allegedly shot dead shortly afterwards at the nearby Crazy Supermarket in Sefako Makgatho Drive, then known as Zambezi Drive.
Saeed suffered bullet wounds to the head and his body was discovered the next day in a remote field near Cullinan.
The two accused were charged with a third man, Amir Shah.
However, he died after he was stabbed 18 times soon after the three of them were released on R10 000 bail each.
Rauf and Shabbir are behind bars again after their bail was revoked because they allegedly intimidated witnesses.
Witness J meanwhile took the stand while being escorted into court by a number of bodyguards.
Some guarded the entrance to the court; others stood guard around him.
J testified that his room looked out on to the back entrance of the Crazy Supermarket.
He said while standing by the window, he saw the three accused carrying a body - wrapped in a blanket and black plastic bags - down the stairs of the supermarket's back entrance.
He said he was not sure whether they put the body down or whether the corpse fell out of their hands, but it ended up on the stairs.
“I could not exactly hear what they said, but it sounded something like hurry up. They then loaded the body into the car.”
J said one of the accused fetched water to wash down what seemed like blood on the stairs where the body had landed.
Some of the accused went back into the shop while another drove off with the body, he said. In explaining why he said it was a body, J said it was a long flat object with shoes sticking out from under the cover.
He said he was terrified about what he had witnessed, but he nevertheless confronted Rauf later that afternoon when he saw him again.
“I told him that I saw him and the others carrying the body. He pleaded with me not to tell anyone and he wanted to give me R20.
“He was frightened and asked me especially to not tell the police what I saw. I promised not to tell and took the R20.”
Saeed’s widow, Lynette Fourie, earlier testified that Shabbir wanted a stake in her husband's business, but he refused.
The situation became so heated, she said, that the local Pakistani community held a meeting and decided Saeed had to pay Shabbir R30 000 to back off. Shabbir allegedly refused to accept this payment.
Fourie said her husband told her he was being followed and received a call from someone who said he had been offered R10 000 to kill him.
Pretoria News
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