The recording of the confession statement by accused 2, Bongani Ntanzi, made to Magistrate Vivian Cronje, was not made for official purposes and the parties recorded in it were not informed beforehand that they were being recorded.
This came out during Cronje’s testimony in the Pretoria High Court where she is giving evidence on the circumstances around the taking down of the confession by Ntanzi relating to the 2014 murder of former Orlando Pirates goalkeeper, Senzo Meyiwa.
However, she says the official statement she reduced to writing was signed by the accused, herself, the interpreter and the accused’s legal representative.
Adv Zandile Mshololo’s application for an opportunity to listen to the recording this morning before the witness could conclude her evidence-in-chief was declined by the court. However, the court ordered that the defence counsel be afforded access to the recording before Cronje’s cross-examination which will take place tomorrow.
Cronje has told the court that Ntanzi had appeared sober, relaxed and calm, and had maintained eye contact during the confession.
She says she first received a call from the senior magistrate of the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court on June 24, 2020, to come to the office to take down the confession from the accused.
She says when she arrived she found a heavy contingence of EMPD officers in the passage leading to the office she was going to use to take down the statement and she was never provided with the names of everyone who was there.
Cronje: I then set up my PC and prepared my documents and then I went to the senior magistrate. I was provided with a blank pro forma document and it is the current form which is before the court.#SABCNews #SenzoMeyiwaTrial #SenzoMeyiwa
— Sipho King K Kekana (@KingKAzania) October 17, 2023
Cronje also says Ntanzi had a legal representative present when he made and signed the confession statement.
Cronje: After all was written down after I asked him if he was satisfied with the contents of the statement, I then asked him to sign each and every page, in my presence and the presence of his legal representative, Mr Mjiyako.#SABCNews #SenzoMeyiwaTrial #SenzoMeyiwa
— Sipho King K Kekana (@KingKAzania) October 17, 2023
Earlier, Advocate Thulani Mngomezulu told the court that they would be challenging the admissibility of the statement, saying it was not done freely and voluntarily, that the accused had not signed the statement as asserted by the state, and that the witness had made the statement under duress.
Since Friday, the court has been hearing arguments on the admissibility of confession statements from accused 1, Muzi Sibiya and Ntazi, including pointings out and warning statements by accused 3, 4, and 5, Mthobisi Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Fisokuhle Ntuli, respectively.
The trial continues.
