Xolisile Botha Mbebeto, who has been testifying since last week, lost his cool and attempted to leave the stand after grilling questions by Advocate Dawie Reyneke. Advocate Reyneke took over from where advocate Masilo Koenane left off in an attempt to poke holes and expose discrepancies in Mbebeto's testimony in court and in the statements he made while in the Kimberley Correctional Facility Centre.

Reyneke grilled Mbebeto on these apparent contradictory details, which include an apparent trip to Pacofs, Mimosa Mall and Grey College, but Mbebeto has disputed these errors from his statement as lies. In one of the statements he gave while at the facility, he said he knew of an instruction to kill Stanley Bakili's girlfriend before a trip to Pacofs. In court, he claimed that while at Pacofs he didn't know why they were there.

Before Advocate Reyneke's cross-examination of Mbebeto, accused number 2's legal representative, Advocate Joseph Kgoelenya, also had a chance to grill Mbebeto. In his brief cross-examination, he quizzed Mbebeto on his statement he made about a trip to Home Affairs.

Recently, during his testimony in chief, Mbebeto told the court that Bakili had promised him R80 000 to kill his girlfriend known as Lindiwe. He said Bakili informed him that Lindiwe was a witness in the state's case against him. Mbebeto said at one point they drove to Pacofs and to Grey College to scout for Lindiwe but their attempts to kill her failed.

Advocate Reyneke put it to Mbebeto that earlier when he testified that he failed to spot Lindiwe at Mimosa Mall, it was because he didn't know Lindiwe. But he replied and said Bakili had already described Lindiwe to him.

Mbebeto is giving testimony in the murder trial of Siemens where eight men, which includes Bakili, are in the dock for his murder. Siemens was gunned down in cold blood in the basement parking of Preller Square Shopping Complex in Bloemfontein in 2018. The cross-examination continues.

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