Cellphone data recovered from two of the accused in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial has revealed communication between all five men implicated in the crime.
The court heard this week that the second and fifth accused Bongani Ntanzi and Fisokuhle Ntuli were found in possession of cellphones while in detention. This led to the extraction of crucial data linking them to the other suspects.
Coordination among the accused
The evidence, presented in the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday, sheds new light on the coordination among the accused in the case that has captured national attention.
The court heard that communications were traced between Ntanzi and all the other accused. They are Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Mthokoziseni Maphisa, and Mthobisi Mncube. This provided compelling evidence of their involvement in the crime.
State witness and cellphone data analyst Gideon Gouws on Wednesday stated that both Ntanzi and Ntuli had been in contact with each other and the other accused.
Gouws revealed that Ntanzi’s phone had a pattern security code preventing direct data extraction. However, information was obtained from his two SIM cards and memory card.
Gouws told the court that Ntanzi’s device, which had two SIM cards; MTN and Vodacom, showed communication records stored in an Excel sheet. Notably, a memory card extracted from Ntanzi’s phone contained a photo related to a newspaper article on the Meyiwa case. This indicated his awareness of the ongoing proceedings.
The court heard that a Standard Bank account belonging to Ntanzi was also extracted from the data.
Similarly, Ntuli’s phone, equipped with two Vodacom SIM cards, presented deleted data. This also raised questions about the deliberate removal of information. Despite this, Gouws highlighted the presence of contacts for Ntuli’s legal representation. Also that of co-accused Mncube, along with a personal photo.
Evidence of calls among the accused, and Kelly Khumalo
“There were no contacts on the MTN SIM card, the Vodacom SIM card had contacts, and the contacts were put on Microsoft Excel sheet.
“It shows there was communication between all the accused. These numbers show there was communication vice versa.”
Notably, Gouws’s evidence in court did not include any data indicating that Ntuli had communicated with Meyiwa’s then-girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo. Previously, cellphone data analyst Lambertus Steyn stated that Ntuli had called Khumalo on August 2, 2014. It also indicated communication between them again on October 15, 2014. State Prosecutor Adv George Baloyi questioned Gouws about this during the proceedings.
In August and October of the same year, there were two calls exchanged between Ntuli and Khumalo.
Gouws was questioned regarding a phone call placed by Ntuli to singer Khumalo. The call occurred on August 2, 2014, at around 10pm and lasted for approximately two minutes. Gouws confirmed that the number mentioned in Steyn’s report, which Ntuli utilised, was active during that period.
Trial within a trial unfolds
This does not look good on Khumalo, who had already been fingered as the mastermind. The court previously heard that she called the hit on Meyiwa and paid for it. She later went to a traditional healer for a cleansing ceremony, the court heard.
This evidence was revealed during a trial within a trial. It seeks to determine the admissibility of confession statements in the matter. The confessions purportedly deposed by Sibiya and Ntanzi were deemed admissible.
The trial will continue on Thursday.
