Marikana trial: Cop questioned over lack of photographs of weapons

The lawyer of former North West deputy police commissioner Major General William Mpembe has questioned the lack of photographs of weapons by a police officer who testified about taking blood swabs from them.

Mpembe and five others are on trial for events that unfolded at the Lonmin K3 shaft in Marikana three days before the infamous massacre in August 2012.

The former deputy police commissioner stands accused alongside retired Colonel Salmon Vermaak, Constable Nkosana Mguye and Warrant Officers Katlego Sekgweleya, Masilo Mogale and Khazamola Makhubela for events that took place at the mine.

It is suspected that striking miners were at the K3 shaft looking for other miners who had reported for duty when horrific scenes later unfolded, News24 reported earlier.

Mpembe and his co-accused have pleaded not guilty to the charges. News24 also reported that Mpembe faces four counts of murder and five of attempted murder.

The former deputy commissioner along with Vermaak also faces a charge of defeating the ends of justice and another of giving false information under oath before the Farlam Commission of Inquiry into the Marikana massacre between 2013 and 2014.

Lieutenant Colonel Moses Mushwana testified in the North West High Court in Mahikeng before Judge Tebogo Djadje on Monday.

The officer said he had taken blood swabs and photographs at two separate scenes on the day. One of the locations was near a shack where a body was. He was a captain at the time.

Warrant Officer Rapheso Masinya, who was attached to the Rustenburg Public Order Policing Unit, previously testified to the court that he recorded the horrific scene with his work camera .

Masinya said he met Mpembe and his subordinates at the scene and that the deputy commissioner had addressed the miners and urged them to surrender their weapons.

“I then filmed a miner who was on the ground and handcuffed from the back. I went to the eastern side and saw a policeman lying motionless on the ground,” the officer testified.

“I went further, and there was another injured officer, who was later airlifted to hospital. I headed to a shack nearby, where I saw two lifeless bodies lying on the veranda.”

Mushwana told the court he had taken blood swabs from a knobkerrie and a self-made spear.

But during cross-examination, when Mpembe’s lawyer, Jan Ellis, questioned where Mushwana could point out and show the images of the said weapons from the album submitted as evidence, Mushwana could not display visible images.

Mushwana told the court he started taking swabs from the knobkerrie after the bodies were removed. In one of the pictures, he said a “line” moving to a particular direction was the self-made spear.

The officer said he did not take full pictures of the weapons.

When Ellis questioned why, Mushwana said his camera had battery life problems on the day so he had not taken individual pictures of the said weapons.

But Ellis did not budge, saying it was disappointing that an officer of the calibre of Mushwana – who has been attached to the Local Crime Records Centre for 22 years, and to the police service for 27 years – did not take photographs of the weapons from which he had taken swabs.

“You see, I have a problem with this [Mushwana not taking pictures of the knobkerrie], you have 22 years’ experience, and you were on your way to take photos and collect evidence, and today we sit in court many years later, and all you have is a photo, a few inches long of a piece of wood and you described it as a knobkerrie,” Ellis put it to Mushwana.

Ellis said: “Mr Mushwana, you are an experienced police officer. What I find disturbing is that you gave your evidence selectively in the sense that, miners or strikers, were in possession of spears and knobkerries.

“You went there to take the photos as evidence. Now you blame the camera. The two obvious objects are supposed to be there.”

In court testimony lead by State prosecutor Advocate Kenneth Mashile, Mushwana said he registered the collected evidence the following day, 14 August, at the Marikana police station.

He said he submitted the exhibits the following day because he had only completed working on them well after midnight on 13 August.

Mushwana said the exhibits he had collected from the scenes were not tampered with and he sent the exhibits to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Pretoria on 28 August 2012.

He also informed the court that he revisited the two crime scenes – on 14 August and 9 October 2012. He said on the 9 October visit, he discovered three more cartridge cases, which he also registered at the station.

Ellis said as an experienced cop Mushwana should have informed the court while giving evidence that he had found the weapons at the scene, but because he had issues with his camera’s battery, couldn’t photograph them.

He questioned why Mushwana omitted that during his testimony.

Mushwana said he only drew the swabs from the objects after the bodies of the deceased were removed from the scene.

Asked whether he thought it was important to inform the court, Mushwana replied: “My lady, I did not testify about that because I was only answering questions asked by the State attorney.”

His cross-examination resumes on Tuesday

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