A new lawyer, Advocate Thulani Mngomezulu, has joined the defence team of accused 1 and 2, Muzi Sibiya and Bongani Ntanzi, in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, to bolster the crew as they look to hold no punches in their quest to convince the court not to admit their clients’ confession statements as evidence.
Attorney Sipho Ramosepele, who has been leading the team, introduced Mngomezulu on Monday, saying he was going to be assisting the team going forward.
Immediately, Mngomezulu requested to be allowed time to consult with the accused and to have some witnesses be recalled back to the stand.
“I am ready to proceed as from tomorrow as arranged in relation to the evidence of the magistrate and I was going to bring an application for the recalling of Colonel Mbotho who has already testified on Friday, together with Constable Nakedi Monareng, on the instructions that I got from accused 1,” says Mngomezulu.
“I need to consult with both accused 1 and 2 and I request the honourable court to make an order that I be given a few hours to consult with accused 1 and 2,” says Mngomezulu.
The trial will continue without Adv Mnisi who is attending to a different matter until Wednesday, and will be afforded an opportunity to access records of proceedings in his absence, as well as the opportunity to cross-examine. #SABCNews #SenzoMeyiwatrial #SenzoMeyiwa
— Sipho King K Kekana (@KingKAzania) October 16, 2023
The state did not object to the request at the matter was postponed to tomorrow to allow for the consultation to happen.
The commencement of proceedings on Monday was delayed as Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng arrived in court after 11am owing to several streets in the Pretoria CBD being closed off ahead of the resumption of the Zulu royal family court battle over the rightful heir to the throne.
There’s a heavy police presence outside court as throngs of people are expected to arrive to demonstrate ahead of the resumption of the AmaZulu Royal family court battle at the high court in Pretoria.#SABCNews #SenzoMeyiwatrial #SenzoMeyiwa pic.twitter.com/8Ano1OeYJk
— Sipho King K Kekana (@KingKAzania) October 16, 2023
On Friday, the court heard that accused 1 in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, Muzi Sibiya, was sober, not assaulted, never promised anything and never expected any benefit when he made a confession in relation to the 2014 murder of the former Orlando Pirates goalkeeper, Senzo Meyiwa.
Without getting into the contents of the confession statement, the state on Friday morning dealt with the circumstances leading up to the confession and after the confession.
Retired Colonel Mhlanganyela Moses Mbotho, who will now be cross-examined by Mngomezulu, says Sibiya was relaxed and cooperative when he volunteered his confession a few hours following his arrest on the 30th of May in 2020.
Mbotho, who received a call from the lead investigator Brigadier Gininda about Sibiya’s arrest and his will to tender a confession, says when he met Sibiya at the Diepkloof Police Station on that evening, the man for KwaNongoma in KwaZulu-Natal told him that he was arrested in the afternoon while he was on the street in Tembisa.
“I greeted him and offered him a chair while he was handcuffed and I showed him my appointment certificate. He requested me to remove my mask. I removed my mask and after he confirmed me on the appointment certificate I put it back. I warned him as per the constitution that he was not forced to make the statement and tell me what would incriminate him, that everything would be used against him in court,” says Mbotho.
According to Mbotho, Sibiya was informed of his right to legal representation but chose not to have one.
He says the only injuries he remembers on Sibiya were on his wrists as a result of tight handcuffs but before he took down the confessions he loosened the cuffs.
“He was informed he had the right to remain silent and that anything he said could be used against him in a court of law and then he said he understood. He was also informed he had the right to consult his legal representation of his choice or the state lawyer, and he said he didn’t need a lawyer.”
Under cross-examination, Mbotho denied all allegations of torture.
Ramosepele: He says when you came into the room where he was being assaulted the assault stopped and you called him to the side and you had documents which you told him if he didn’t sign the assault was going to continue.
Mbotho: That is far from the truth. If he says the assault stopped when I came in, it would mean I found them in the room. But they found me in the room. And there was no assault that took place.
The retired police officer says it is questionable that the accused would have been assaulted in Tembisa, Vosloorus and Soweto, as claimed by his defense counsel, before he gave a confession in Soweto, saying he would have been brought to Soweto in an ambulance if that was the case.
Mbotho says he was in the room with Sibiya for more than two hours and everything contained in the statement was from the statement. He says he can’t claim he forgot to mention during that time that he had been assaulted by the officers who had brought him to Soweto.
“Then he should have told me. I asked him and he said that. He can’t even say he forgot to tell me because I asked him.”
He shot down the assertion by the defense that he brought the confession statement already typed up and that all Sibiya did was sign it.
Mbotho will be taken on once again on these claims when Mngomezulu cross-examines him.
The matter will continue tomorrow when the state is expected to bring a magistrate who was present when accused 2, Bongani Ntanzi, tendered his confession.
