15 Jul 2021

A pathologist based at Princess Marina Referral Hospital has stated that the late Mr Isaac Davids had sustained fatal knives stabs.

Dr Kaone Panzirah-Mabaka said this when giving evidence before Justice Michael Leburu on Wednesday in a case in which Jabulani Dube and Mokgalemi Maleya are charged with the murder of Mr

Davids at Sorilatholo in January 14, 2018.

Dr Panzirah-Mabaka was explaining a pathology report authored by his former colleague, Dr Vassaprasad Patnaik, who has since retired and went back home to India.

He said the pathology examination carried on January 16 detailed numerous injuries on the deceased in areas such as the head, skull, chest and abdominal area.

Further examinations revealed a swollen brain, enlarged heart as well as injuries in the lungs, liver and skull fracture, said Dr Panzirah-Mabaka.

He said some injuries were deep stab cuts inflicted by a sharp object pointed towards the body of the deceased using a certain degree of force.

The pathologist stated that the stab wounds in the head, chest and abdomen were responsible for the death of Mr Davids as per the report.

When being cross examined by defence attorney for Maleya, Mr Opeyemi Ajayi over the cause of death, the pathologist maintained that the head, chest and abdominal stabs were without doubt responsible for the death of the deceased.

“These are significant injuries which were fatal on their own,” Dr Panzirah-Mabaka explained.

He explained that the stabs on the back and chest penetrated the chest walls and would contribute to the collapse of the lungs, while the abdominal stabs sustained by the deceased injured the liver and punctured the lungs.

Hence he said the stabbings were the primary cause of death for Mr Davids and objected to the defence attorney for Dube, Mr Bathusi Brown that perhaps the deceased’s chronic hypertension condition could also have caused the death.

Dr Panzirah-Mabaka told the court that the deceased had lived with the chronic hypertension for a long time and it was manageable.

“High blood pressure here is not a contributor to death,” he emphasised.

He said when bodies were examined for postmortem, incidental conditions were also mentioned in the report, but not necessarily meaning they were the cause of death.

Dube, who is a Zimbabwean and Maleya who is a Motswana, are accused of murdering Mr Davids, who was their employer in 2018.

The state is represented by Ms Thato Dibeela of Directorate of Public Prosecutions and the trial continues. ENDS