“There is no justice for me,” declared Muzi Sibiya, the first accused in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, as the state concluded its cross-examination at the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday.
Sibiya maintained that the court had been denied critical evidence on Automatic Vehicle Locators (AVLs) that could have helped verify police vehicle movements on the day of his arrest.
“The issue of the AVLs not being brought before court is not justice to me,” Sibiya told the court.
“The JMPD officer who came here to testify said their vehicles had AVLs fitted,” he added.
Focus on missing data
He said this as his lawyer, Advocate Charles Mnisi, started recross-examining him on the significance of the missing data.
“I do not want to misunderstand you on the absence of those AVLs. What does that mean for the charges that you are facing?” Mnisi asked.
Sibiya responded firmly that justice could not be served without the AVL information.
“I did say that if the AVLs were here in court, they would have helped the court in terms of showing the movement of the car and proving the times as I had testified,” he said.
“When we requested the tracker information, it was not brought in court. But that was not the case for them. When they asked for something, we gave them. But when we request something that is going to prove a point I’m making, it never comes. That is not serving any justice to me,” Sibiya added.
Mnisi further questioned Sibiya about his mental and physical state when he met with police officer, Colonel Nkosikhona Radebe, who testified that Sibiya appeared sober and coherent.
“According to Mr. Radebe, you were in your sober senses when you signed the statement you made,” Mnisi put to him.
Denies being of sound mind
“What would you say to that? Were you in sound and sober senses when you met him?”
Sibiya rejected the claim, alleging that he had been assaulted by police before the meeting.
“That is not true,” he said.
“I was not okay when I met up with Radebe. I could not have been in my sound and sober senses because I was assaulted by the police. And I have been saying that to the court. I signed everything I was told to sign. And I did everything I was told to do because I was assaulted. I want the court to also remember that I got arrested on May 30, 2020 and saw Radebe on June 5, 2020. All those days without having seen my family, how would I have been well?” he replied.
Mnisi will continue with his recross-examination on Wednesday.
The trial comes after the 2014 murder of football star Senzo Meyiwa. Meyiwa was killed at his girlfriend’s home in Vosloorus. Five men linked to his murder are in jail. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
