Key Figures in Mandela Case Afraid to Testify : South Africa: Fear stems from abduction of another witness. The prosecutor is reluctant to compel them to give evidence. Trial is delayed.

The court case against Winnie Mandela, already shaken by the abduction of a key state witness, was dealt another blow Tuesday when prosecutors disclosed that two other important witnesses now are afraid to testify.

“They are scared to come to court,” prosecutor Jan Swanepoel told the judge, M. S. Stegmann. “They are nearby, they are available, they have not absconded.”

After a three-hour recess, during which Swanepoel attempted to persuade the men to testify, the prosecutor returned to court and called one of the men, Kenneth Kgase, as his first witness, even though Kgase was not present.

Kgase’s lawyer asked for time to consult with his client, and the case was adjourned until today.

Kgase, 30, and Thabiso Mono, 22, are the most important witnesses in the state’s case. Lawyers say the men had intended to testify but became frightened when another witness, Gabriel Mekgwe, was kidnaped Sunday night. Mekgwe is still missing.

Kgase, Mono and Mekgwe all testified last year, in the trial of a Mandela associate, that they were among four people kidnaped from a church halfway house by Winnie Mandela’s followers in December, 1988, and beaten at the Mandela home in Soweto.

Kgase testified then that Winnie Mandela instigated the beatings, which later led to the death of the fourth man, 14-year-old Stompie Seipei.

The men now are under subpoena to repeat that testimony.

Winnie Mandela, the wife of Nelson Mandela, deputy president of the African National Congress, and her three co-defendants are charged with four counts of kidnaping and four of assault. She has pleaded not guilty and says she was out of town when the abductions and beatings occurred.

Under South African law, the judge may threaten witnesses with a jail term of up to two years if they refuse to testify. But Swanepoel said he was reluctant to try to force any of the men to testify.

“I don’t want to have them arrested because I know why they are not coming to court, and I can appreciate their fear,” Swanepoel said.

Kgase and Mono, who have rejected state protection, are being sheltered by Methodist Church leaders and lawyers with the anti-apartheid Legal Resources Center. The two men fear retribution by Mrs. Mandela’s followers, their lawyers say.

Mrs. Mandela’s retinue of bodyguards, now formally disbanded, has reportedly been linked to 16 murders in Soweto. And community leaders say her followers have terrorized many township residents who were seen to be her opponents.

The Star, a Johannesburg daily newspaper, reported Tuesday that Mekgwe had been escorted from a Methodist Church house in Soweto on Sunday night by three ANC members. Mekgwe, like Mono a strong ANC supporter, had been agonizing over the decision to testify, the Star said, quoting unnamed sources.

The ANC said in a statement Tuesday that it “denies and rejects any imputation that it is organizationally implicated in the disappearance of Mr. Mekgwe.” The ANC, which has previously charged that Mrs. Mandela is being persecuted by the state, added that its position is that “the law be allowed to take its course in this matter without interference from anyone.”