The first accused in the former Bafana Bafana shotstopper Senzo Meyiwa murder case has alleged that the police are covering up for each other to conceal their wrongdoing.
This is according to Muzi Sibiya during cross-examination at the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday.
Sibiya told the court that police officers who testified in the case failed to disclose that Deputy Police Commissioner General Shadrack Sibiya was present at the scene where the late Bafana Bafana captain was shot and killed in Vosloorus in October 2014.
Meyiwa was killed while visiting his baby mama and popular musician Kelly Khumalo.
Sibiya made the allegations during a cross-examination by state prosecutor Advocate George Baloyi.
“Brigadier Bongani Gininda did not come before this court, and he also did not inform the court that General Sibiya went to the scene. However, even though Sibiya has not testified or submitted a statement, he has confirmed that he went to both the scene where Senzo was killed and later to the hospital,” Sibiya told the court.
Fact, not fiction
Baloyi asked the accused about the repeated claims of a police cover-up, reminding him that the presiding judge, Ratha Mokgoatlheng, had cautioned against making unsubstantiated allegations, which are still under investigation.
But Sibiya insisted that what he said cannot be allegations.
“It is not allegations. Even now, when you watch television or listen to the radio, you hear about police officers involved in wrongdoing. We are hearing about who did what, when, from the police, so it is not allegations,” he stated.
Sibiya also commented on the testimony of Colonel Karel Swanepoel, suggesting that while the officer’s statements may reflect how police are trained to handle suspects, he suffered abuse at the hands of officers.
He said this after Baloyi read to the court the testimony that was given by Swanepoel that police do not keep an injured detainee, but instead take them to a medical facility for them to get medical assistance.
“I am not blaming Swanepoel because maybe he was describing how police are trained to deal with detained persons. But I was never informed of my rights. I was not taken for medical attention, and I did not know what was written in the documents, but I was told to sign. Police stations and officers do not operate the way Swanepoel said they do,” he added.
The trial continues.
