Joke About Penis Size Turns to Murder

South Africa

Closed circuit television footage will be a key factor in the investigation into last week's shooting of five men at the Merseyside Tavern and Pub in Umbilo.

A joke about penis size and racist taunts allegedly culminated in the shooting that claimed the lives of Shawn Strydom, 33, Nick Jansen van Rensburg, 57, and Rory Menzes, 40. Shaun and Bruce Edwards were injured and rushed to hospital. Shaun was discharged on Thursday.

On Friday five men, including two police brothers, appeared in the Durban Magistrate's Court on three counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder.

Still dressed in the clothes they wore on the night of the incident, Insp Samuel Steven, 39, of Point Police Station, Insp Leon Steven, 33 of Mayville Police Station, Naeem Sadick, 22, Nithanandan Ganess, 37, and Julian Naidoo, 31, stood confidently in the dock.

They were supported by at least 30 of their family and friends, who packed the last two rows of the court room.

Zane Haneef, who represented the Steven brothers and Sadick, told the court the truth of what had happened on September 10 would be revealed once CCTV footage had been viewed.

"The footage available of the incident will give clearance on their (the accuseds') version of what transpired," he said.

Fateful

In an affidavit read out in court, Samuel Steven, a married father of three aged between seven and 15, said he intended to plead not guilty to the charges and he was prepared to stand trial because the state did not have a strong case. He said once CCTV footage had been viewed, a true account of what happened on that "fateful night will be known".

He said he had been employed as a police officer for 17 years. He told the court he had a case of extortion pending against him, and had been released on warning in that case.

Leon Steven stated in his affidavit that he had been a police officer for 15 years, was married and had two children aged nine and seven. He said he acted in "self defence after surviving a racial attack".

Haneef noted that Samuel had sustained visible facial injuries in the incident and was admitted to Mt Edgecombe Hospital at the time of arrest.

Magistrate Thandi Nomvungu asked Samuel to stand up so she could take a better look at his face, but said she could not see any injuries.

He informed her that his nose was broken and he sustained lacerations to his eye.

Asif Latib, legal counsel for Ganess, a marine engineer employed by Transnet, and Naidoo, an operations supervisor for a shipping company, said his clients were not directly involved in the shooting.

Samuel and Leon Steven were released on R5 000 bail each, and Ganess, Naidoo and Sadick were released on R3 000 each. They are due to appear again on November 13.


This article was originally published on page 2 of Daily News on September 15, 2008