The Senzo Meyiwa murder trial continued at the Pretoria High Court on Friday with a heated cross-examination of police sergeant Moses Mabasa by advocate Charles Mnisi.
Mnisi represents Mthobisi Mncube, the accused number three in the case.
Friday’s proceedings focused on Mabasa’s role in identifying a photograph of the accused showing a gold tooth, raising questions about the reliability of his observations.
Mnisi opened his cross-examination with a probing question: “Have you ever heard the saying, ‘all that glitters is not gold’?” he asked.
However, Mabasa informed the court that his task involved locating a picture of the accused with an open mouth, specifically displaying teeth.
When Mnisi pressed whether he was given context for this unusual request, Mabasa said no. “No, we don’t usually ask questions of the investigating officer,” he replied.
“Did it not strike you as a strange request?” Mnisi asked. “No, it’s part of my duties,” Mabasa replied, unfazed.
Mnisi then challenged Mabasa’s expertise in identifying teeth, asking him to unpack his experience with teeth identification.
“I don’t have experience. All I do is rely on what I see in the picture before me,” Mabasa responded.
He likened his task to searching for a specific item, saying if he is asked to look for pictures of a loaf of brown bread, he looks for it. “If I find a loaf of white bread, then I will continue looking until I find a picture of brown bread.”
Searching for a gold tooth
He explained that upon finding a picture with what appeared to be a gold tooth, he notified Sergeant Mogola, the requesting officer. “I asked her to come and verify, and she came.”
He described the object in the photo as something that looked like a gold tooth and began processing his report.
When Mnisi asked Mabasa to describe the shape of the object, he responded: “Teeth are white, so whatever looked different, I looked for it. Anything that could be gold.”
To clarify what gold looked like, Mnisi pressed Mabasa to point out an example in court. Mabasa held up the court interpreter’s diary, noting its gold-coloured cover as an example.
Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng, intrigued, requested to see the diary.
“Didn’t you think you needed an expert to tell you if the picture showed gold?” Mnisi asked.
However, according to Mabasa, he describes what he observes, while an expert interprets it based on their perspective. “And we take it from there, but seeking an expert opinion never came to me.”
Mnisi enquired further: “Are you uncertain about the accuracy of the information you provided to the investigating officer?”
“It looked gold. Scientifically, yes, I am not sure,” Mabasa agreed.
Killed at the home of his lover
Further testimony is expected on Monday, as Mnisi will continue his cross-examination.
The trial seeks to uncover the truth behind the 2014 murder of Meyiwa, the goalkeeper for Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana.
On June 12, Mabasa, a seasoned cellphone data analyst who previously testified in August 2023, took the stand to present evidence related to images allegedly depicting Mncube.
The images, sourced from a Samsung GT memory card, showed a man with dreadlocks, a multi-coloured T-shirt, and distinctive gold teeth.
Meyiwa was killed at the home of his girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo’s mother, in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg.
