The firearm that was investigated and possibly linked to the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial could have been exchanged while it was stored at the Cleveland Police Station exhibit store. This was the assertion put forward by the defense during Captain Bonginkosi Mtshali’s cross-examination at the high court in Pretoria on Friday morning.
During cross-examination, defence counsel, Advocate Charles Mnisi read out a statement by Colonel Christian Mangena in which he says when he collected the exhibit for ballistics from Mtshali on the 20th of July 2020, it was contained in an unsealed bag.
Before then, the gun had last been booked out for ballistics by Sergeant Mandla Masondo on the 10th of February 2015 and returned to the exhibit store 15 days later by Sergeant Sibongiseni Dlamini.
The defense argued in the five years that it had been there in an unsealed exhibit bag, there was a likelihood that it could have been exchanged.
“No comment,” Mtshali responded to the question on the possibility.
Since he began giving testimony on Thursday, clad in police uniform, Mtshali remained on his feet and spoke with confidence, in Zulu, telling the court that he regarded highly the responsibility he was entrusted with to guard the integrity of the exhibits.
Mshololo: You testified that the ballistics wouldn’t accept an unsealed bag?
Mtshali: Yes!
Mshololo: But the one Mangena brought was accepted.
Mtshali: I don’t know. Mangena must come and explain that.#SABCNews #SenzoMeyiwatrial #SenzoMeyiwa
— Sipho King K Kekana (@KingKAzania) August 25, 2023
Advocate Zandile Mshololo pressed further on the same issue, forcing a concession from Mtshali that while he understood exhibit bags had to be sealed at all times, except for when they were at the ballistics, there could have been discrepancies with how this particular exhibit was handled.
Mtshali says Mangena must come to court to explain what he meant when he said the bag was unsealed. He has insisted that the gun was in a sealed bag.
According to Mtshali, the only time the bag is unsealed is when the exhibit is at the ballistics center and it is sealed again inside a new bag as it is returned to the exhibit store at the police station. However, on its return, Mtshali says they only note that the exhibit is back, but do not write down the seal bag number from the ballistics.
The defense used this to argue that there was no proof that the gun that was returned by Dlamini in 2015 was the same gun that was booked out by Mangena in 2020.
Mtshali has also conceded that he deals with a lot of similar guns that come in and go out of the exhibit store.
The firearm, with a serial number filed off it, and ammunition were said to have been confiscated from accused 3’s room in Cleveland when he was arrested in 2015 for a taxi violence case.
Following the conclusion of that matter, in which the accused was convicted, an instruction was issued to have the gun destroyed in 2017.
However, during his evidence-in-chief on Thursday, Mtshali explained the process of paperwork that has to be followed following such an instruction which he says is the reason why the firearm remained intact for another three years until Mangena and Gininda probed it three later.
Mshololo: Gininda knew when he picked the firearm up that it was linked to the Vosloorus case?
Mtshali: No, he will come and explain.
Mshololo: But you didn’t ask him why he needed it.
Mtshali: He had already said he was investigating the Vosloorus case.#SABCNews #SenzoMeyiwa
— Sipho King K Kekana (@KingKAzania) August 25, 2023
In the post-lunch adjournment proceedings, Mtshali insisted that the gun he was referring to was the same gun Masondo had testified on in court. This when Mshololo pointed to the witness that, according to his own testimony, the gun would not have been ordered for destruction if the serial number had been established through the etching process.
Mshololo: Now, there’s no evidence that this evidence was kept in a sealed exhibit bag.
Mtshali: In that way, I would agree.#SABCNews #SenzoMeyiwatrial #SenzoMeyiwa
— Sipho King K Kekana (@KingKAzania) August 25, 2023
Masondo has previously told the court that his investigation had resulted in the serial number of the gun being established and that it had shown it belonged to a security company in Centurion. He has also told the court that ballistic examinations on the gun had revealed no link between the gun and Meyiwa’s murder in Vosloorus.
Mshololo: Did you not say if the serial number is revealed the gun is then taken to the owner?
Mtshali: Yes.
Mshololo: And if the serial number is not retrieved it is then ordered for destruction.?
Mtshali: Yes.
Mshololo: Masondo’s gun would have a different order if the serial number was retrieved.
Mtshali: That would mean the gun Masondo is talking about would have a different SAP13 number.
Mshololo: That’s why I am saying two different firearms.
Mtshali: I am talking about this one reflected here on SAP13 86. The one that Masondo is talking about, I have no knowledge of.
During re-examination, Mtshali says he was shocked to hear from the defense that there could have been an exchange of guns from the SAP13 room he was a commander of from 2019.
The trial continues.
