The accused in the Senzo Mayiwa murder trial speak to their various legal representatives while sitting in the dock at Pretoria High Court on 17 July 2023. Picture: Gallo Images/Phill Magakoe
A ballistics expert says he maintained objectivity when testing the alleged murder weapon, as the defence in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial attempted to challenge his findings.
Chris Mangena’s cross-examination by the defence resumed in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Thursday.
Mangena conducted a crime scene reconstruction and bullet trajectory analysis on 27 October 2014, the day after Meyiwa was fatally shot while visiting his girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo, at her mother’s house in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni.
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The state witness previously testified that he identified two bullet impacts in the kitchen – one on the door leading outside and another on the floor.
According to ballistic results, the bullet fragments recovered from the scene matched a 9mm Parabellum pistol linked to the third accused, Mthobisi Mncube.
The firearm had been confiscated from Mncube when he was arrested in 2015 for a separate matter.
On Thursday, Mangena explained he conducted tests on Mncube’s firearm by firing eight bullets.
The witness told the court that he had given the positive match results to four of his colleagues, who reviewed the findings and came to the same conclusion.
The ballistics expert indicated that in his 30 years of experience, he has never had an instance where he found a positive match and a colleague later determined that it was negative.
“As I can recall, there is no case that I did where we differed,” he said on Thursday.
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Mangena also stated that he used at least two firearms during the bullet tests.
“There was a list of 16 cases where there was a request to compare this bullet with those exhibits from the other 16 cases and that was done by somebody else and all of them were negative to the bullet,” the witness revealed.
However, defence attorney Sipho Ramosepele, representing Bongani Ntanzi, argued that the findings were subjective.
Under the cross-examination of Mncube’s lawyer Advocate Charles Mnisi, Mangena testified that he was objective in his analysis.
“I didn’t say I’m going to take sides [as] I didn’t know whose firearm is it, but when I started looking… I saw the marks were sufficient for me to say that this is the right firearm,” Mangena responded.
Mnisi stated that the defence’s ballistic expert would testify and demonstrate that Mncube’s firearm cannot be linked to Meyiwa’s murder, as the results were inconclusive.
“Inconclusive is also a finding. If I say it’s inconclusive, it means I cannot say it’s positive or negative,” the witness replied.
READ MORE: Senzo Meyiwa trial: No bloodstains found on bullet projectile, witness tells court
The expert later clarified that while the barrel of Mncube’s firearm was in a distressed condition, it still positively matched the weapon used in the crime.
Mangena emphasised that there were notable “similarities” between the bullet and the exhibits.
“I could see that they are from the same firearm.”
The defence has argued that Meyiwa was shot with a .38 Special Revolver rather than a 9mm pistol.
Five men including Mncube, Ntanzi, Mthokoziseni Maphisa, Fisokuhle Ntuli and Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya are on trial for Meyiwa’s murder.
The suspects have pleaded not guilty.
They face charges of murder, attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, possession of an unlicensed firearm, and possession of ammunition.
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