Senzo Meyiwa trial: Defence argues accused thought he was going to be released

A police officer has denied that Senzo Meyiwa murder-accused Bongani Ntanzi believed he was going to be freed by the police after confirming his whereabouts on the day the former Orlando Pirates was killed.

The cross-examination of Sergeant Vusimuzi Mogane got underway in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Monday.

Mogane gave evidence in relation to accused two, Bongani Ntanzi, in the trial-within-a-trial, which is currently taking place to determine the admissibility of confession statements, pointing out and warning statements by the accused in the main trial.

Three-hour interview

During proceedings, Advocate Thulani Mngomezulu grilled Mogane about an interview which took place for three hours in a boardroom at the Pretoria North police station a day after Ntanzi’s arrest.

The suspect was arrested in Phokeng, Rustenburg on 16 June 2020.

“What were you doing for three hours?” Mngomezulu asked.

Mogane, in his response, told the court Ntanzi was questioned about all the cases he had been implicated in, including Meyiwa’s murder.

Mngomezulu said, according to Ntanzi’s version, five officers including Mogane, lead investigator Brigadier Bongani Gininda and Sergeant Batho Mogola.

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However, the witness argued that the interview was conducted by himself, Mogola and the late Sergeant Mabena.

“Because of the sensitive nature of our cases, we loathe having many people because we want to contain the leaking of information,” Mogane said.

Mngomezulu said Ntanzi had informed him that Gininda instructed him to strip off his shirt to check whether he had tattoos during that interview.

The police officer disputed this.

“Mr Ntanzi must tell the truth. Brigadier Gininda wasn’t there and I also want Brigadier Gininda is to an seasoned policeman; he would never tell a suspect to take off his clothes and take pictures of him,” he said.

Mine visit

Mngomezulu highlighted that Mogane spent more than 15 hours with Ntanzi the following day.

“You took him at 08:15 in the morning on 18 June 2020. Then you brought him back on 19 June at 2:30 in the early hours of the morning. If I calculate these hours you spent with accused number two, it gives plus minus 17 hours. During these ungodly hours, what were you doing with the accused two?” the defence lawyer asked.

Mogane said they had gone to the Sibanye Gold Mine’s Driefontein shaft in Carletonville, where Ntanzi worked.

The officer also pointed out that in the 17 hours that the suspect was booked out, they shared their food with him.

“If he said he wanted KFC, we would buy it for him so he would eat.”

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

But Mngomezulu argued that his client was under the impression that he was going to be released once Mogane and his colleagues visited the mine.

“After Gininda and Mogola had departed, you asked him for directions back to Rustenburg. To him, he was under the impression that you were satisfied with the information and you were going to release him.”

Mogane said Ntanzi was lying.

“Ntate Mngomezulu, I would like to ask that your client tell you the truth and not speak lies. After we left the mine, after we had the evidence that he was not at work. We parked at the gate outside the premises of the mine then he asked to speak to Brigadier Gininda.

“Gininda had to come into our car and asked what was the problem. He said that since HR denied that he was at work, he wanted to tell the truth,” the witness explained.

Watch the trial below:

Mogane said Gininda read him his rights, and when he started talking, the officer stopped him and told him that since he was the lead investigator in the murder case, he would get someone neutral to take down the statement.

“When we parted, he asked him if he was satisfied, he said he was. If I could raise Mabena from the dead, he would come and confirm this.”

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.

It was also revealed that Ntanzi made two confessions about his alleged involvement in Meyiwa’s murder.

The first confession statement was taken down by Colonel Moholo Solomon Raphadu on 19 June 2020, while the second one was made before Magistrate Vivian Cronje on 24 June.

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