“I deny offering anybody money to kill my husband.” 

These were the words from the accused husband killer, Zurenah Smit, 59, who has taken the stand at the Western Cape High Court on Monday to testify about allegations that she masterminded her husband’s 2019 murder. 

She was questioned about having promised her co-accused R2 million to have her husband murdered.

In her testimony, Zurenah maintained her innocence when she made bare denials of being involved with robberies and the 2019 murder carried out at Louisenhof Farm, where she lived with her slain husband Stefan Smit. 

Zurenah denied allegations that she drugged her husband to steal R235,000, a firearm, and Kruger Rand coins from a safe. She defended herself, stating: “I had no reason to drug my husband. He was taking care of me and provided for my whole family.”

Answering to count four (conspiracy to commit murder), Zurenah, who moments before became emotional in the box, denied the charge against her.

Testimony began on Monday morning after Zurenah confirmed she would no longer proceed with her application for leave to appeal Judge Derek Wille’s recusal.

In November, Judge Wille denied the application, which the State described as another tactical move by Zurenah to “unnecessarily delay” proceedings.

Similarly, dealing with what appeared to have been another procedural matter in the defence case, Legal Aid lawyer Susan Kuun, submitted to the court that they intended to call a handwriting expert to testify as one of Zurenah’s witnesses, but said this would be too costly for her client.

The handwriting expert would be expected to testify with regard to fraud charges in which she is accused of having forged signatures on documents, making her a beneficiary of a substantial amount of assets and financial inheritance. 

Kuun submitted that, due to austerity measures, they would request that, with substantive explanation and by means of an application, the Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) make available funding for the handwriting expert to testify.

Judge Wille said such a request was not permissible in law. “I can’t see how the OCJ must pay for the handwriting expert to come to court and produce a report. It’s unheard of,” said Judge Wille. 

While the defence filed this application, Judge Wille ruled that Zurenah would not yet be questioned regarding three counts (count 1, forgery; count 12, fraud; and count 13, fraud) while the trial proceeds in the meantime.

Following hours of being led in testimony, Kuun requested that the proceedings be adjourned to Wednesday before Zurenah was further led concerning the murder charge (count five). 

Judge Wille granted the request.

Meanwhile, the court also heard from Zurenah about how her relationship with Stefan unfolded. She said they had met during a meeting where they discussed wine export, and she was eventually offered a marketing position at Louisenhof Farm. The pair had courted before they got engaged on May 9, 2002. 

In a brief stop-start to testimony, a translator had to be called to assist the court due to Zurenah being inaudible when she started testifying in the morning. She told the court that her speech was affected and still had “numbness of the tongue due to her recent medical condition”. 

The matter will resume on Wednesday.

chevon.booysen@inl.co.za

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