“I tried to stop the fight, I tried to protect my brother…”
An emotional Caroline Faye Munilall testified in the Durban Magistrate’s Court this week, about watching her brother Bryson Munilall, 27, die after he was assaulted and stabbed by two suspects outside the Dance Café nightclub on Chris Hani Road in November 2022.
The siblings are the children of KZN magistrate Bryan Munilall.
Joeash Govindsamy, 29, and his wife Aveshnee Naidoo, 23, of Greenbury in Phoenix, were arrested and charged with murder. Both pleaded not guilty.
Aveshnee was also charged with assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. She has pleaded guilty to this charge.
State prosecutor, Desiree Boyang, told the court that the accused had acted in common purpose to kill Bryson.
Caroline told the court that she arrived at the Dance Café with Bryson, their cousin Jade John and her cousin’s husband, Nicholas Govender at 1am after visiting an uncle.
“When we arrived at the club we paid a fee and the guys were searched for weapons. We went inside the club and were dancing and enjoying each other’s company.”
She said they had all consumed alcohol at the club.
“I had two ciders, Bryson and Nicholas had been drinking beers. Jade also had ciders. I was in a state where I could appreciate what was happening around me.”
The court heard that they left the club when it closed at 3.30am and were walking towards Nicholas’s vehicle - in the nightclub’s parking lot - when the suspects and their friend accused them of walking toward their car.
“We turned around and tried to reason with them to check their registration plates for clarification but they were still insisting it was their vehicle, and an argument broke out. They had a similar vehicle parked outside the parking lot.”
Caroline told Magistrate Mayne Mewalall that the argument went back and forth and culminated in a physical fight.
She said that Aveshnee had slapped Jade, and she hit her back.
Joeash and their friend also assaulted Jade.
“I was standing against the car with my brother. Nicholas was trying to separate the fight. I did not want my brother to get involved in the argument.”
She said when Bryson saw Joeash assaulting Jade, he pulled him away and began hitting him.
“I was trying to break up the fight involving Jade and I also tried to pull my brother away.”
She said Aveshnee then slapped Bryson from behind.
“He turned around and slapped her back across the face.”
Caroline said Joeash got up and stabbed her brother in the back, while his back was turned.
“He used a knife to stab him about three times. My brother tried to walk away. He was staggering a bit. I came in between my brother and Joeash to try and stop him. Aveshnee was behind him. I begged and pleaded with Joeash to stop and he responded by using vulgarities at me and my brother.”
She said Aveshnee then pulled her by her hair and started hitting her on the head.
“I begged her to stop and even apologised to her. She threw me onto the road. I was disorientated. At this time Joeash was still attacking my brother, and Jade and Nicholas were fighting with their friend.”
She said when she woke up she saw Bryson near the car.
“Jade and Nicholas were with my brother trying to put him into the car. I went to see him and he was bleeding profusely. I just saw blood through his shirt and clothes. I tried to get help. I called the ambulance. We tried to carry him and put him in the car. Eventually the police and ambulance arrived but he was already dead.”
She said the accused remained in the parking lot and did nothing to assist them.
“They were drunk.”
In court, CCTV footage of the incident was played which clearly showed Caroline trying to stop the fights.
Some family members chose to leave the court while others stayed, upon watching the footage and Bryson’s stabbing. Caroline and some family members broke down in tears.
She told the court that the incident had traumatised her.
“I only had one sibling. His death has shattered my family and my parents. He did not deserve to die that way. From the footage, I really tried to stop the fight and protect my brother.”
There was no cross examination by the accused’s legal teams. The accused elected to remain silent and not call any witnesses.
Sagree Hoosen, Aveshnee’s mother, said her daughter’s incarceration had left her children aged 7 and 4 traumatised.
“Joeash and Aveshnee were married for eight years. They were self-employed and ran a stall at a shopping centre. We are not happy with what happened. They were under the influence of alcohol.”
Ronelle Munilall, Bryson's mother, said the death of a child of any age was devastating.
"The pain and anguish can be compounded when death comes at the hands of another human being. Parents and family members can face many complicated issues, even as they try to make sense of the incomprehensible, that someone knowingly, willingly and or intentionally killed their child."
She said Bryson worked in Durban and his contract ended in October 2022.
"He was going to come back home to Port Shepstone in November but instead my son came home in a coffin. His death broke us as a family as we were very close knit. His dad taught him how to play cricket from the age of five and by 13, he had his KwaZulu-Natal colours. We are not the same. My son's life was cut short but his love and memories will always be celebrated."
Ronelle said a poem about a mother’s pain reflected on how she felt.
“The poem goes, ‘singing a song about a mother's pain. A pain that I can never be released from my breath, caught as the bird song ceased, I then screamed to heaven God, please let me wake.
“I lay on the floor, as my body contorted in a pain that was beyond anything any human should know. My heart shattered and turned cold, the buzzing returned as the bird's cry was gone, and silence fell over me as I went numb. As penance she has walked with the dead he died.
"The veil separating me from my baby, unable to touch, unable to quell the sorrow inside my soul. I live a nightmare I cannot wake from in this life. I look up each day, and ask God please let me awake’."
She said through the pain she thanked God for his grace, mercy and comfort.
"Without God we would have not made it this far. A year later to hear Bryson's name on a charge sheet for a trial and seeing the video footage of how he was murdered opened up a wound that was barely healing and here we are wounded all again."
"We are also thankful to Detective Captain Sanjay Arunjeeth, the investigating officer, for being meticulous and paying attention to detail when handling the case."