The appellants, Mawanda Makhala and Velile Waxa, were convicted in the Western Cape High Court of the murder of Mr Molosi, a municipal councillor, as well as unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. The State’s case relied centrally on two prior statements made by Luzuko Makhala, the brother of the first appellant, who was an accomplice. In these statements, made to police officers during the investigation, Luzuko implicated himself, the appellants, and a third accused in a politically motivated contract killing. Luzuko later testified for the State but recanted the incriminating portions of his statements, alleging police coercion. He was declared a hostile witness. Despite the recantation, the trial court admitted the statements as hearsay under section 3(1) of the Law of Evidence Amendment Act 45 of 1988 and relied on them, together with corroborative evidence, to convict the appellants. The appellants appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal, contending that the statements were unlawfully obtained, inadmissible hearsay, improperly admitted after an incorrect declaration of hostility, unreliable accomplice evidence, and insufficiently corroborated.