THE Durban Magistrates Court has denied former Ukhozi FM presenter's application to throw out the "poor quality evidence" of the complainant.
Siyabonga "Siya" Mhlongo's defence, led by senior counsel Advocate Simphiwe Mlotshwa, made the application questioning the credibility of the complainant's evidence.
They were questioning how a complainant's evidence can be trusted when he can't remember the times, quantity of alcohol he consumed, and while he also denies that the accused was hijacked even though there was evidence that the accused was hijacked.
They were also questioning the credibility of the complainant who was under the influence of alcohol during the incident.
They made their application on Tuesday, 9 September, and the state opposed it while Magistrate Mhlonipheni Sibiya reserved the judgment for Wednesday, 17 September.
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Siya (42), who is a former Ukhozi FM presenter and Metro FM presenter, is facing charges of assaulting his ex-boyfriend Njabulo Duma (30) in the early hours of 1 September 2024.
Their night of booze turned out to be a nightmare as Njabulo was allegedly assaulted and hit with a bottle of Savanna. During their fight, Siya was hijacked in his car, leading to their bitter separation.
Siya arrived in court wearing a grey suit with black shirt and black shoes, looking confident to get a ruling that would favour him, but he was disappointed after the ruling.
Delivering his ruling on Wednesday, 17 September, Magistrate Sibiya said the evidence before him is not poor evidence.
He said there's evidence that the accused committed the crime. Therefore, the application was denied and now he'll continue with the trial.
The magistrate said the accused admitted hitting the complainant with a bottle. However, the accused said it was for different reasons as he was defending himself from someone who was opening the car doors on the side where the complainant sat.
The magistrate said the accused also admitted that he doesn't deny being with the complainant and injuring him.
Since the incident happened in September 2024, Siya has lost many things as Ukhozi FM suspended him while he was still having a contract with them.
His contract expired in March 2025, and it wasn't renewed pending the court case.
