The murder trial of the late Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa continued on Tuesday with testimony from accused number one Muzi Sibiya, who told the court he was tortured by police and coerced into signing a statement he did not understand.
Sibiya recounted events leading up to his alleged confession, claiming that two police officers, a Colonel Gininda and a man he did not know, later identified as Mbotho, came and questioned him after a day of severe beatings.
“When they both appeared, the police who assaulted me immediately stopped,” Sibiya told the court.
“Mbotho then said he wanted to ask me a few questions and asked what I knew about the death of Senzo. I replied I didn’t know anything and that this question had been asked of me throughout the day.”
Sibiya’s lawyer, advocate Charles Mnisi, asked Sibiya for details about the encounter.
Location of assault
“Where were you when this was happening?” Mnisi asked.
“In the courtyard. He was writing, and after some time, he asked me to sign the papers he had,” he responded.
Sibiya confirmed that Gininda was present in the courtyard during the questioning.
He described how he refused to sign at first because his hands were cuffed behind his back.
“At the end, Mbotho asked me to sign the papers, and I told him I won’t be able to because my hands were cuffed. He asked an officer to remove the cuffs, and Mbotho was surprised to see blood on my hands and that I was injured. I still have those wounds.”
“Here they are,” he said, exposing them to the court.
Mbotho was surprised to see he was hurt, and [still] bleeding, Sibiya recalled.
The court heard that Sibiya eventually signed the papers but claimed he was not informed what the documents were. “He did not tell me the purpose,” Sibiya clarified.
“After signing those papers, we got into vehicles, and they brought me here to Pretoria, to the Valleria Police Station.”
Disputed interview
Advocate Mnisi noted that Mbotho had testified he began interviewing Sibiya at 21:35 and that he had read back the statement before Sibiya signed it.
Sibiya disputed that. “He never read out any statement to me,” Sibiya insisted.
“He asked me questions, I replied, and then he asked me to sign. I told him I can’t because I’m handcuffed. After he saw I was injured, he gave me papers to sign and I signed.”
When asked about the contents of Exhibit FF, the statement in question, Sibiya was adamant that he had no idea what he was signing.
“I don’t know anything that is contained in that exhibit. I am only aware of the signature because I followed his instruction.”
The trial continues.
