Skeem Saam actress Amanda Manku told the court her dad admitted to being involved in the murder of her mum and gogo to her after his arrest.
This as Skeem Saam actress Amanda Manku took the witness stand as a state witness in the murder trial of her dad, William Manku, and his co-accused.
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Her testimony, marked by painful detail and emotional restraint, left the courtroom silent as she relived events surrounding the deaths of her mum and gogo.
Under examination by the state, Amanda confirmed her identity and relationship to the accused and the deceased.
“I’m 34,” she told the court, before confirming that accused number 1 is your father and the two deceased were your mother and grandmother.”
She described her relationship with her dad before her mum’s death as generally good, though increasingly strained.
“Before my mother passed away, my father and I were fine. We were not fighting. I’d like to add though that he had become distant from me and I didn’t understand why,” she testified.
The court heard that her parents’ marriage had deteriorated years before the murders, largely due to her dad’s s extramarital affair.
“To my understanding, it started years before she passed after my mum found out that my father was having an affair,” Amanda said.
She explained how her mum discovered the affair through phone records and later WhatsApp messages when her dad was hospitalised and unconscious. The emotional toll on her mum was severe.
She said the first time she found out about an affair was when her mum discovered that her dad had bought a cellphone contract for another woman.
“The first time she didn’t take the news well and ended up trying to end her life,” Amanda told the court.
She further testified that her mum had decided to end the marriage shortly before her death.
“During the second instance, she said to me that she wanted out of the marriage because it was clearly not stopping,” she said.
Her mum intended to file for divorce and seek maintenance but was unable to do so after discovering that her marriage certificate was missing.
The court also heard that Manku moved out of the family home in March 2021 before the mum was murdered.
“I did ask him a day or two later why he moved out,” Amanda testified, adding that he promised to explain later but never did.
She said that despite moving out, her dad continued to support the family financially and transport her siblings to school.
One of the most painful moments in her testimony came when Amanda recounted confronting her dad after his arrest.
“I asked my father if he was guilty and he responded saying that, ‘Well, I am here, am I not?’ I then asked him if he was involved in my parents’ passing and he said: ‘I didn’t do it with my own hands’. I then asked him to give me a simple yes or no and then he said yes,” she said.
Amanda told the court how she reacted.
“I then told him that from that day, he no longer has a daughter in me.”
During cross-examination, the defence questioned timelines and interpretations, suggesting that Amanda’s understanding may have been emotional. She stood firm.
“I love my father and I have no reason to lie about what he said,” she stated.
The defence maintained that Manku denies involvement and denies talking to Amanda about the murders, but the actress insisted her account was truthful and witnessed by others.
As she stepped down from the stand, the courtroom remained tense.
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Her testimony painted a picture of a family unravelled by betrayal, distance and unresolved conflict.
The matter has been postponed to 12 to 15 May 2026, with further proceedings scheduled for 19 to 22 May 2026.
