Advocate Thulani Mngomezulu, who is representing accused number one and two in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, argues that the statement by Sergeant Vusumuzi Mogale has been fabricated.
This as the Pretoria High Court heard during a trial within a trial on Thursday that the first handwritten statement by Mogane was shredded, allegedly on realisation that it was not readable.
Mogane is on the witness stand giving details of how accused number two, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, was traced, arrested and charged on various cases he had allegedly been hiding from.
Mogane, a sergeant in the SA Police Services serving under the national cold case unit in Pretoria since 2016, said this is where he first met Brigadier Bongani Gininda, the chief investigator in the Meyiwa murder case, who was a colonel at the time.
He testified that he needed to refer to his statement when giving his testimony. The statement was taken down by Gininda.
First statement destroyed
Mogane said he was communicating in both English and Sotho when the statement was being taken down, but indicated that the first statement was completely destroyed because it was deemed not important.
He claimed that he was not forced or threatened by Gininda to make a new statement and emphasised that the statement was still detailing the events as they had occurred.
Mngomezulu objected to the matter, telling the court that the statement should be deemed inadmissible.
“The statement has been irregularly made in a sense that the investigating officer or the head officer or the head of investigation is the one who was dictated with the contents of the statement and was commissioned by the same head of investigation.
“This statement was recently made [on] 25 October 2023. It consists of fabrication because that cannot be confirmed if it reflects or relates to the destroyed document,” said Mngomezulu.
He said Gininda was the head of the investigation and the court has heard testimonies from many other witnesses before the new statement was made.
Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng dismissed it, stating that an officer, including a lead investigator, was allowed to take down a statement in a case they were investigating and no law ruled that out.
Giving his testimony as he continuously refers to the statement, Mogane said Ntanzi was arrested on Youth Day of 2020 at Phokeng in Rustenburg, North West after conducting a search for him from December 2019 when an informant asked police to look into the accused.
Tip-off led to arrest
He said the informant told them that Ntanzi was involved in the brutal murder of the soccer star.
This is when Gininda brought his team to discuss the matter and the investigations also revealed that the same suspect was wanted for a murder case in Nongoma, a small town in KwaZulu-Natal, and another case involving drugs in Vosloorus.
He told the court that the team analysed the matter and to find out what Ntanzi did and where he could be found. The investigation exposed that he was “working at a mine in Westonaria”.
But when they went out looking for him, Ntanzi had already moved out.
Mogane said they were then informed of the new location of their wanted man.
They found Ntanzi with his girlfriend at his room in Phokeng at about 9pm. He was transported to Pretoria North police station.
Mogane emphasised that the rights were read to Ntanzi and he understood them. They also reported that he was not injured by the time he was received at the police station.
Murder at Kelly Khumalo’s home
Mogane testified that when asked about the murder of Meyiwa, Ntanzi was quite informed about the death and claimed that he received all the information from news broadcasts.
He said Ntanzi also claimed that he was at work on October 26 2014, the day that the soccer star was shot to death during a house party at his then-girlfriend Kelly Khumalo’s home in Vosloorus.
Ntanzi allegedly offered to take them to Sibanye Stillwater mine where he was employed at the time, to confirm that he was at work on the day in question.
However, Hendrick Mulder, the human resources manager, disputed the claims. He revealed that Ntanzi was off-duty on the day.
Mulder previously told the court that Ntanzi was absent from work on the day Meyiwa was killed. He also testified that Ntanzi was last seen at 6.57am on the day Meyiwa was killed.
