The High Court in Bloemfontein on Tuesday rejected the alibi of IT consultant Muziwendoda Kunene who faces charges of murder, kidnapping and fraud.

Kunene, Mumukeleni Khoza (26) and Mphakamiseni Khumalo (21) all of Msinga, near Greytown, stand accused of the kidnapping and murder of Ballito estate agent Lynne Hume on October 23, 2007.

Hume (47) was allegedly driven to a dirt road near Kestell in the eastern Free State and shot in the passenger seat of her white Volvo. The car was then set alight.

Delivering judgment Judge MH Rampai dismissed Kunene's defence that he was in Pretoria when the crimes were committed.

"His testimony must be rejected as untrue."

Rampai said it was highly improbable that so many witnesses who saw Kunene in Ballito on 19 October, would have made a mistake about the identification of one person who was allegedly hundreds of kilometres away.

Kunene had claimed he was in Pretoria from 15-26 October, not in KwaZulu-Natal.

Delivering judgment on the fraud charge, Rampai held that the State had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Kunene committed fraud involving a cheque for R637 350.

Kunene signed and handed the cheque to Hume on 19 October, for three years' rent of a flat in the upmarket Simbithi Golf-Eco Estate at Salt Rock in KwaZulu-Natal. The court held it was this cheque, which Kunene had signed knowing there were not enough funds to cover it, that had drawn Hume "fatally close" to him.

No conspiracy theory

The court held that the evidence given by eyewitnesses who saw Kunene on 19 October, and other supporting evidence, "nullified" the conspiracy theory Kunene used in his defence.

Kunene submitted he had been the victim of an elaborate conspiracy plot, involving the presidency, police and his son, since the beginning of the so-called ANC hoax e-mail case in which he was involved.

Kunene, former spy boss Billy Masetlha and former National Intelligence Agency manager for electronic surveillance Funokwakhe Madlala were acquitted of all charges in the hoax e-mail saga in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court on 15 January.

Concerning the kidnapping charge, the court found Kunene's alibi had been severely damaged because two witnesses that had been expected to testify in support of his claim that he was in Pretoria had failed to do so.

One witness did not appear while another, Andre van Wyk, told the court he could not understand why he was called to testify.

The judgment continues.