- The legal representative of a former attorney, who stands accused of killing his four young children, has abandoned his plan to say his client spent the night of the murders with his "girlfriend".
- The woman denied knowing Lukas Phasha, except through Facebook.
- Phasha stands accused of killing his children after his relationship with their mother turned sour.
The legal representative of former attorney Lucas Phasha, who allegedly killed his four young children, abandoned his plan on Friday to say the accused was with his "girlfriend" on the night of the murders.
Phasha, 52, stands accused of killing his children - Katlego, 9, Joyce, 7, Tshepo, 5 , and Adel, 3 - in Ga-Phasha Village, Limpopo, on 17 February 2020 after the relationship with their mother turned sour.
Three of the children were hacked to death with an axe, while the youngest had her head bashed in with a rock. Their bodies were found at two different locations the following day.
The State contends Phasha killed the children and fled the village.
In his previous evidence-in-chief, Phasha told the Polokwane High Court in Limpopo he had spent the night of the murders with his girlfriend, a Morwasi Mphahlele.
Under cross-examination by prosecutor Mashudu Mudau that cellphone records did not reflect any calls to Mphahlele, he changed his testimony and said he had communicated with her via Facebook Messenger.
Phasha provided another cellphone which he said was given to him in prison by a Mamafolo Mphahlele whom he claimed was his girlfriend's brother.
His legal representative, advocate Lucky Mkhize, said then that he needed time to trace the girlfriend so she could testify he had indeed spent the night with her.
On Friday, Mkhize told the court he would no longer be pursuing this line of defence, and would not call the girlfriend to take the stand.
However, the State asked her to take the stand instead.
It turned out her real name is Lebo Semakaleng Mehlape who is married with two children, aged 21 and 15.
She said she used the name Morwasi Mphahlele as a pseudonym on Facebook.
Mehlape told the court she did not know Phasha, saying they were friends on Facebook.
She denied spending the night with him at a guesthouse in Lebowakgomo on 17 February 2020.
Mehlape also denied knowing someone named Mamafolo Mphahlele.
Mudau said Phasha had presented the court with three theories which were not backed by any evidence.
These included that he was framed in that the children might have been killed by a Nelson Phasha whom he was at loggerheads with over the chieftainship of the village as well as mining rights.
Another theory was that a local businessman of Indian origin might have killed them because he was in a dispute with him over a business transaction.
The case was adjourned to 4 June 2021 for judgment.