A police data expert on Tuesday linked one of the suspects accused of former Bafana Bafana goalie Senzo Meyiwa’s murder to a cellphone while he was incarcerated.
This comes as the trial resumed at the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday. Data analyst Gideon Gouws continued his testimony on critical cellphone evidence.
Meyiwa was shot and killed during an alleged home invasion at the home of his then-girlfriend Kelly Khumalo on October 26, 2014 in Vosloorus.
Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Ntanzi, Mthobisi Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Fisokuhle Ntuli are all on trial for the murder. They have all entered pleas of not guilty.
Evidence links accused to a cellphone while behind bars
During the proceedings, prosecutor advocate George Baloyi heard of the evidence linking Ntanzi to a cellphone while he was behind bars.
Gouws confirmed the authenticity of the cellphone data records obtained from the service provider.
His analysis disclosed that Ntanzi was detected near the Queenswood Tower, close to the Villieria Police Station, multiple times. This tower data is crucial as it contradicts Ntanzi’s earlier denial of having a cellphone during his incarceration.
In April, Warrant Officer Lawrence Thabo Ndlovu testified about extracting data from a Samsung cellphone found on Ntanzi on February 7, 2021.
Ndlovu told the court that he received the phone on February 8, 2021, from investigators working on Meyiwa’s case. He placed the phone in a safe and began working on it on October 20, 2021.
The phone, which had a lock pattern, contained an SD card. Since the pattern-cracking software was not functional, Ndlovu used a tool called XRY to extract the data.
After completing the extraction, he sealed the phone in a new evidence bag. The phone was then collected from him by Officer Vusimuzi Mogane on September 5, 2023.
Signal picked near Queenswood Tower near Villieria police station
“From August 20, 2020, the cellphone was consistently picked up in the Queenswood tower area,” Gouws testified on Tuesday. He highlighted that this data aligns with the period Ntanzi was held at Villieria Police Station.
Advocate Baloyi referred to previous testimony by Sergeant Mogane, who stated that a cellphone was found in Ntanzi’s possession on February 8, 2021.
“According to the data, Ntanzi was near Queenswood Tower near the Villieria police station, indicating possession of a cellphone,” Gouws reiterated.
On Tuesday, the court also delved into the patterns of communication between the accused. Especially between accused number three, Mncube and the fifth accused, Ntuli on the day of Meyiwa’s shooting almost 10 years ago. Gouws revealed that between October 26 and December 14, 2014, Mncube contacted Ntuli 11 times. Ntuli, in turn, contacted Mncube 28 times by January 17, 2015.
The trial continues on Wednesday.
