The work of police officers involved in the transporting of both accused 1 and 2, Muzi Sibiya and Bongani Ntanzi, respectively, as well as their record keeping have come under scrutiny at the Pretoria High Court probing the murder of former Orlando Pirates goalkeeper, Senzo Meyiwa.
Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department officers attached to the disbanded SWAT Unit, Constable Nkosingiphile Maphumulo and Constable Wendel Jonathan told the court on Friday that they had no pocketbook records of their movements the day they transported both accused to confess.
Maphumulo, together with his colleague and previous witness Nakedi Monareng, transported Sibiya to the Diepkloof Police Station where Colonel Mhlanganyelwa Mbotho took down his confession, while Jonathan transported Ntanzi to his confessions in Soweto and Boksburg.
Both do not have pocketbook records of their movement on those days.
Maphumulo says on the day he did not record anything in his pocketbook because he “didn’t have it around that time”.
Mngomezulu: How can we ascertain that you were on duty on that day?
Maphumulo: When we report for duty it is written down that we are on duty.
He has, however, denied torturing the accused.
Mngomezulu: When he was arrested you were involved in the torturing of the suspect.
Maphumulo: No, I was not part of that.
Jonathan, too, has no pocketbook records of his movements.
Mngomezulu: So, you say you cannot provide a copy of the pocketbook?
Jonathan: As I said, my lord, the unit (SWAT) was disbanded, and we were all deployed to various units. So, the office we were utilizing was no longer in use.
On the 30th of May 2020, Maphumulo and Monareng, on chief investigation officer Brigadier Bongani Gininda, transported Sibiya to Diepkloof, while on 19th and 24th of June, Jonathan and his team, on Sergeant Mogane’s instruction, transported Ntanzi Lieutenant Colonel Mohale Raphadu and Magistrate Vivian Cronje respectively.
Jonathan was also involved in the escort of Sibiya, on the 5th June, to the pointings-out conducted at the crime scene of Meyiwa’s killing and the Basothong Hostel where the five accused were allegedly seen the day Meyiwa was shot and killed.
Both have denied being part of the arrest of the two accused or having been part of their torture as alleged by the defense in the trial within a trial hearing arguments on the admissibility of the three confession statement taken by Mbotho (30 May), Raphadu (19 June) and Cronje (24 June) as well as pointings-out by accused 1 and warning statements of accused 3, 4, and 5.
The day before accused 2, Bongani Ntanzi, made his first confession to Lieutenant Colonel Mohale Raphadu, he was booked out of the police holding cells for about 18 hours. This emerged during Raphadu’s cross-examination at the Pretoria High Court, probing the killing of former Orlando Pirates Goalkeeper, Senzo Meyiwa.
Ntanzi was first arrested do the 16th of June 2020 and three days later he was brought before Raphadu at the Moroka Police Station to make a confession in relation to the former Bafana Bafana’s 2014 murder.
Amid allegations of torture and coercion leading up to the confession, the defense has been probing records of what happened in the three days between the time Ntanzi was arrested and the time he confessed to Raphadu.
The court has heard that on the 17th the suspect was booked out at 16h55 for three hours by Sergeant Mogane and the following the day he was booked out again by the same officer at 8h15 for a different matter (Nongoma case) and was booked back in the wee hours of the following morning at 02h30 – 18 hours later.
Hours later, Ntanzi confessed in relation to the Meyiwa murder.
Raphadu, who says he examined the suspect’s body for possible injuries, is the third witness to tell the court that Ntanzi was calm, relaxed and a willing participant when he confessed.
The matter will continue on Monday.
Senzo Meyiwa Murder Trial | 27 October 2023:
