Senzo Meyiwa trial: Defence grills cop over ‘tainted’ process

A police officer has insisted that he had no prior knowledge about the charges one of the five men accused of killing Senzo Meyiwa faced when he was taken to do a pointing out of the crime scene.

The cross-examination of Colonel James Hadebe continued in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday.

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Hadebe is one of the witnesses giving evidence in a trial within a trial, which is being held to determine the admissibility of confession statements, pointing out and warning statements by all five men in the main trial.

The police officer testified that on 5 June 2020, he collected accused one, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, from the Alberton police station and drove with him to the crime scene of Meyiwa’s shooting in Vosloorus.

They also drove to the hostel, where a previous witness revealed he “partied” with all the five accused on 26 October 2014, the day Meyiwa was killed.

Process tainted

During cross-examination on Tuesday, Advocate Charles Mnisi sought to poke holes in Hadebe’s evidence, suggesting that his little experience in conducting the pointing-out exercise at the time “tainted” the process.

Hadebe conducted less than five pointing-out exercises prior to Sibiya.

Mnisi pressed Hadebe on whether he informed Sibiya that he was not part of the investigation into Meyiwa’s murder when completing the pro forma before going to conduct the pointing out.

“Did you ever bring that to his attention?” the advocate asked.

Hadebe highlighted that he wouldn’t have been tasked with pointing out if he was involved in the investigation, but conceded that he did not tell Sibiya about his exclusion from the probe.

“The fact that you said no are indicative that you did not ascertain whether the future deponent was there before you freely and voluntarily without any undue influence, which ultimately that tainted the credibility and the sanctity of the process that you were just about to embark on,” Mnisi said.

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“I don’t believe so. I worked according to the pro forma,” Hadebe replied.

Meanwhile, Advocate Zithulele Nxumalo grilled Hadebe about not seeing what Sibiya was charged with before the completion of the pro forma.

Nxumalo highlighted that the murder charge appeared on the document Hadebe signed to get Sibiya out of the holding cells at the Alberton police station.

But Hadebe insisted he didn’t see the charge.

“Are you saying you just signed without reading fully and understanding what is contained in the entry?” Nxumalo asked.

“Yes,” the police officer responded, adding that “It is true I was not aware of what the accused was going to point out before I interviewed him”.

Watch the trial below:

Hadebe had testified that no one wanted to sign Sibiya out when he went to the station to collect him.

The witness said the police officers feared that the suspect might escape, so he eventually signed Sibiya out himself in the occurrence book.

He also told the court that Sibiya informed him he was arrested for drug dealing.

Assault claims

Earlier, it was put to Hadebe that Sibiya was first taken from a police station in Tshwane, then to Vosloorus, where he was assaulted and tortured before being taken to Alberton.

It was alleged that police officers tortured Sibiya by placing a plastic bag over his head, leaving him to suffocate.

But Hadebe said he had no knowledge about the assault claims.

The court previously heard that Sibiya was assaulted at Diepkloof Police Station when he made an alleged confession statement regarding Meyiwa’s murder on the night of his arrest on 30 May 2020.

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