Slain UJ student Palesa Madiba had injuries consistent with blunt force trauma, witness testifies

• Slain student Palesa Madiba had injuries consistent with blunt force trauma, a witness has told the court.
• Another witness earlier testified that Madiba's alleged killer allegedly made an admission that he had "crushed Palesa".
• Madiba's body was discovered in 2015 in the yard of the home where she was last seen before being reported missing.

Slain University of Johannesburg (UJ) student Palesa Madiba had injuries consistent with blunt force trauma, a witness told the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

"[The] remains had a number of injuries, consistent with [blunt force trauma] and this form of trauma could have been caused by a 'crush' or some form of blow to the area," technician at the Wits Department of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, Lawrence Hill said.

This comes after the State had asked the witness: "If I claimed that I crushed the skeletal remains, is it reconcilable [with the] findings?"

A witness had earlier told the court that the accused, Dumisani Mkhwanazi, allegedly made an admission to him that he "had crushed Palesa".

Richard Mahlangu, who was a friend of the accused for 20 years, told the court that after he saw Palesa Madiba was missing on the news, he asked his friend "what happened".

"I did see the accused at a party, we left the party and went to Kliptown, we got there, we slept inside the car. I woke up, he was also awake, then I asked him.

"I asked him what happened to Palesa, he got upset, I asked again for the second time and then he said he crushed her," Mahlangu testified.

READ | Palesa Madiba murder trial: Accused told me he 'crushed her', witness tells court

Hill told the court that he could not comment on the degree of violence.

"The injuries were noted on the front [pointed to the chest/ribs area] and along the back of the body running down the spine.

"The likely scenario is [blunt force trauma] to the areas like crushing."

News24 previously reported that Madiba went missing following a sleepover at her friend - Tshidi Mkhwanazi's - home in Phiri, Soweto on 9 August 2013.

Tshidi lived with her grandmother in the main home while her uncle, the accused, occupied one of the backrooms, but the court previously heard that he had access to the house to bathe and eat.

While the alleged admission took place a few weeks after he saw on the news that Madiba was missing, Mahlangu only made a statement to the police on 18 December 2015.

Madiba's body was found in a shallow grave behind Tshidi's home on 16 December 2015 after a neighbour noticed an arm protruding from the ground, News24 reported.

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Mkhwanazi is facing charges of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, defeating the administration of justice, the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.

He previously pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The trial continues on Thursday.