A day after Senzo Meyiwa died, a SIM swap was recorded on his phone, according to Vodacom’s forensic liaison supervisor, Pinky Vythilingam.
Vythilingam revealed this in the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday. She said according to her evidence, the SIM swap was completed accurately on October 27, 2014.
Vythilingam’s evidence does not include the identity of the individual who requested the SIM swapping. However, she did reveal that it was done in a retail outlet at the Benmore Gardens shopping mall in Sandton.
“The SIM-swap was done successfully at around 9:17 the morning of the 27th October 2014. And after the sim-swap, the SIM-card was not put back on the deceased’s iPhone 5s. But it was inserted on a Nokia classic,” said Vythilingam.
SIM swap done without normal procedures
Leading the evidence, state legal counsel Ronnie Sibanda asked Vythilingam if there were any documents that a person needed to provide while performing a SIM swap.
“Yes there are. Agents need an identity document copy of the person requesting a SIM-swap. [Also] proof of address, proof that the SIM card belongs to them (Rica statement). In order for them to have carried out the SIM swap, these are needed. Otherwise, it is not allowed for a SIM-swap to be done without a copy of the ID,” she added.
Sibanda asked if she could inform the court on whether the ID was supplied by the individual who requested the SIM swap.
“It doesn’t show who it was however, 63 phone calls were made after the sim-swap. Among those calls, Vodacom customer care was also contacted. At around 21:04 on the 27 of October 2014, the phone was on voicemail.”
Sibanda stated that, according to the information presented to the court, the owner of the phone was confirmed dead on October 26, at 21:15.
Evidence suggests someone else did the SIM swap
“So, with this background, is it possible that someone else performed the SIM swap on this particular phone number?” he asked.
Vythilingam replied in the affirmative.
“When a person, other than the owner of the number, requests a SIM swap, do they have to present the documents you mentioned?”
“Yes,” replied Vythilingam.
Sibanda: “Between the night of the incident and early morning after, evidence before this court is that the phones of the people that were in the house as well as the deceased were confiscated by the police.”
The witness was unable to continue as her cough worsened. She stated that she had been ill for the past three weeks. The judge adjourned the case to Wednesday.
