The police protracted accused number two Bongani Ntanzi’s timeout when he was taken in for questioning in 2020 due to concerns of boredom.
This was revealed during the trial within the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial at the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday where key investigator, Sergeant Vusimuzi Mogane, took the stand providing his account of events.
Mogane who led Ntanzi’s arrest in June 2020, raised eyebrows when he admitted that the accused was not returned to the holding cells promptly.
Instead, he was only booked back into his cell 18 hours after being taken out for an interview which lasted for four hours.
The investigator explained that there were concerns that the accused would be bored in his cell if he returned on time because he was alone and did not share with other inmates.
Asked what he got up to while delaying Ntanzi from returning to his cell timeously, Mogane responded by saying that he attended to other cases.
The defence asked for the disclosure of the said cases; however, he did not comply stating that some of them were sub judice.
“Like I said, there were other cases we were following up on, I cannot talk about them because they are not done yet,” he said.
Presiding Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng ruled in favour of the disclosure for defence lawyers to peruse.
Assault allegations
The trial within a trial seeks to establish the admissibility of two confessions allegedly conferred by accused number one Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya and Ntanzi.
However, the defence has argued that the accused were coerced into confessing by means of assault.
During the cross-examination, Mogane vehemently denied allegations of assault, reiterating that the accused had willingly confessed.
He stated that upon realising that the police had evidence indicating Ntanzi was not at work on the day of the murder, Ntanzi voluntarily offered to “tell the truth”.
“Ask your client to tell you the truth. When we left the mine, having received the evidence that he was not at work, we drove out of the mine, and he asked to speak to Brigadier Gininda. Gininda went to him and asked what was wrong,” Mogane explained.
The trial continues on Tuesday.
