THE murder trial of a Mpumalanga man who allegedly set his partner alight two years ago had to be postponed after he had a seizure.
Romualo Brown (45) is standing trial at the Mbombela High Court, facing a charge of murder and contravention of a protection order.
Brown pleaded not guilty to all the charges. This relates to an incident where the accused had earlier assaulted his ex-lover Nomthandazo Mnguni (30) and further poured her with petrol, then setting her alight at her home in Dwaleni, KaBokweni.
Brown and Mnguni had separated for three years before the incident occurred.
According to the deceased's mother, Josephine Mnguni, who testified about the events of the day, was woken up by her daughter screaming outside the house, calling for her.
She said when she went outside to see what was happening, he found the deceased on the ground, and the accused stood over her. She told the court that he asked him what was happening and that he wanted to burn her.
Josephine further testified that she saw the accused wearing a coat on the day, took out matches and petrol.
She said she tried to grab him by his coat, preventing him from what he was doing, but the accused managed to take off the coat and continued to set the deceased alight, and he was also burnt.
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The mum said she fell to the ground and called for help. She said they managed to take five buckets to stop her daughter from burning and rushed her to the hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries a few days after the incident.
Defence lawyer, Advocate Keabetswe Mokotedi, questioned the credibility of Josephine.
He said the witness fabricated the story that she was telling the court. He further said that he would lead evidence on the accused to dispute the witness's version of the events of the day.
But Josephine said she would not fabricate any story because she was saying what she saw that day.
She indicated that she narrated everything to the police and that maybe he made a mistake by not capturing everything she was saying.
The court had to be adjourned as the accused said he was feeling cold and experiencing serious pains to his chest and head.
When the court resumed an hour later, the accused started coughing and throwing out. He further fell and started having a 'seizure'.
Judge Takalani Ratshibvumo had to roll over the matter to Friday, 10 June.
