The Vodacom expert testifying at the murder trial of former Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa spent Wednesday zooming into the cellphone records of Longwe Twala.
Pinky Vythilingam, the Vodacom forensic liaison supervisor, began her evidence about call data from a phone number allegedly connected to accused number three, Mthobisi Mncube.
She described activities such as incoming phone calls and outgoing phone calls. Also SMSes, towers, and regions where the phone picked up.
Cellphone data and towers testimony
State prosecutor Ronnie Sibanda asked Vythilingam to inform the court if this cellphone had picked up the Spruitview tower at any point using her data.
“Yes. I did pick it up on the 24th of November 2014 at 19:03:57 when MTC was received. It show 2G Sprutiview SG,” she said.
“On 28 November, the first time was at 13:08:03 Spruitview, thereafter 13:34:46 Spruitview. Then 13:35:36 Spruitview. Thereafter, at 15:53, the tower was Bopang Kgotso. Then reflected Vosloorus Square.”
Sibande then asked her to explain further. “The towers you have placed on record, are they the same towers that the phone of the deceased was picking up on the 26 of Octber?”
“Yes,” Vythilingam responded.
Sibanda asked Vythilingam to focus on the number ending with 0436. It is a cellphone number believed to belong to Sello Twala.
“Looking at the GPRS data, the first entry, on 26 October 2014 at 19:47:19, it shows Spruitview. It shows Vosloorus at 19:48.
“At 20:01:01 it shows Spruitview. It is in Vosloorus at 20:16:44. The remainder of the page reflects Spruitview. According to Rica, this number belongs to Longwe Twala,” said Vythilingam.
Kelly Khumalo’s phone had no cell tower trace
When asked about Kelly Khumalo’s number, Vythilingm said from 14:07:51 on the day Meyiwa was killed, Khumalo’s phone has no cell tower.
“At 23:28:03, there are no towers identified. Those are the two entries of the 26 of October 2014 on this number,” she added.
Meanwhile, the court proceedings were a little delayed on Wednesday. This was to allow accused number three, Mthobisi Mncube, to attend his doctor’s appointment.
The court also granted the legal representatives an extra 15 minutes to wrap up their discussion with C-Max’s CEO at Kgosi Mampuru. This comes after accused numbers three and five made cold water allegations on Tuesday.
Meyiwa was killed by one of two intruders who barged into the home and demanded cellphones and money in October 2014. This is according to the people who were in the room with him. Five men accused of his murder are currently standing trial.
