GEORGE NEWS - A child who witnessed a fatal shooting in Golden Valley, Blanco, was the main eyewitness in the State’s case against a man sentenced to life imprisonment for murder.
Daniel Kimama (45) was sentenced in the George Regional Court on Friday 16 October for shooting and killing Elroy London (27) in Marara Street on 27 March 2022.
He also received eight years’ imprisonment for possession of an unlicensed firearm and three years for possession of unlicensed ammunition. These sentences will run concurrently with his life sentence.
Kimama was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
The argument and the shooting
The shooting followed an argument between Kimama and London’s father involving Kimama’s bakkie. The State claimed that Kimama had assaulted London’s father. Kimama denied the allegation, saying he had only pushed him.
London later damaged Kimama’s bakkie with a panga. For this, he was subsequently shot and killed in the street outside his parents’ home.
Kimama pleaded not guilty and denied being the gunman. He testified in his defence and called another witness.
The witness’ testimony
According to the State, the child knew Kimama from the neighbourhood and witnessed the shooting from nearby in broad daylight. She described how Kimama left after London had damaged his bakkie with a panga, then returned with a firearm and fired three shots at him.
The State called six witnesses, but relied mainly on the child’s testimony to identify Kimama as the gunman.
In its closing arguments, the State said her account could be trusted because she stood by her version when the defence questioned her.
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