Senzo Meyiwa trial: Accused called by investigator with ‘job offer’ week before arrest

One of the five men accused of murdering former Bafana Bafana captain, Senzo Meyiwa received a call from one of the investigators about a job offer a week before his arrest, the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria heard on Monday.

Sergeant Vusimuzi Mogane, who was one of the investigators in Meyiwa’s case, was back in the witness stand for his cross-examination as the court continued to hear evidence in a trial-within-a-trial.

The trial-within-a-trial is taking place to determine the admissibility of confession statements, pointing out and warning statements by the five accused men in the main trial.

Police officer testimony

Last week, Mogane, who is attached to the national cold case unit, testified about Bongani Ntanzi’s arrest on 16 June 2020.

The police officer told the court, in his evidence-in-chief, that the police first learnt of Ntanzi’s alleged involvement in Meyiwa’s murder from an informant in 2019.

However, they could not find the suspect for six months while they traced him.

He said during investigations, the police found out that Ntanzi was a suspect in other matters including a drug dealing case in Vosloorus and a murder case in Nongoma, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).

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Ntanzi was subsequently arrested at his home in Phokeng in Rustenburg, where the accused lived with his girlfriend.

Unlicensed ammunition was also found by the police during his arrest. The suspect was booked into custody at the Pretoria North police station on the same day.

According to Mogane, Ntanzi allegedly told the police he was at his workplace at the Sibanye Stillwater Mine when he was quizzed about Meyiwa’s murder.

The court previously heard from Ntanzi’s HR manager Hendrik Louis Mulder that the suspect was not at work on 26 October 2014, the day Meyiwa was killed, as he was off and had taken unpaid leave.

Phone call

During his cross-examination, Advocate Thulani Mngomezulu, counsel for Ntanzi, told Mogane that his client was called by Sergeant Batho Mogola a week before his arrest.

He revealed that Mogola offered a job to Ntanzi, according his version.

Mngomezulu said the suspect turned down the offer before Mogola informed him that he was wanted by the police in connection to Meyiwa’s murder.

“Accused number two gave Sergeant Mogola the address where he resided and that was the first time he denied his involvement in the death of Senzo Meyiwa,” the defence lawyer said.

While Mogane initially said he had no knowledge about the call, he disputed Ntanzi’s claim of being offered a job.

“Sergeant Mogola will come and testify about that,” the officer responded.

READ MORE: Senzo Meyiwa trial: Accused ‘did not sleep’ before making confession, says defence

Mngomezulu questioned the witness about the manner in which Ntanzi’s arrest was executed since the police had no warrant of arrest.

“What actually prompted you to go to the address if there was no warrant of arrest?” the advocate asked.

Mogane highlighted there were provisions in the Criminal Procedure Act that allowed for an arrest without a warrant.

Mngomezulu also indicated that the police had no docket about the Nongoma case when Ntanzi was arrested, which Mogane did not dispute.

“When you get a docket, you read it and get a clear understanding but because it was busy, we left the docket in the office,” the officer explained.

Watch the trial below: