Senzo Meyiwa Trial: Defence says judge answered questions for witness
Defence advocate Thulani Mngomezulu has accused the judge in the Senzo Meyiwa trial, Ratha Mokgoatlheng, of answering questions on behalf of state witness police officer Batho Mogola about events that transpired after the arrest of accused number one, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, in 2020.
“If the court intervenes in terms of giving evidence which is supposed to be given by the witness — the witness is under oath and it is expected from her,” Mngomezulu said in the Pretoria high court on Wednesday.
Mokgoatlheng responded that he was merely “citing the law and not giving evidence”.
The defence has cross-examined Mogola about allegations from Sibiya and accused number two, Bongani Ntanzi, that they were assaulted, tortured and unlawfully detained when they were arrested in 2020.
She has repeatedly denied that the two were assaulted or forced to make confessions on the murder of the Bafana Bafana captain.
The defence says Sibiya was taken to a site in Lethabong where police allegedly assaulted him.
“Accused number one gave us access to his home [in Tembisa] and I deny that he was assaulted by anyone that I was with that day and I also deny that he was taken to Lethabong,” Mogola told the court on Wednesday.
“When we went from Tembisa to Vosloorus, accused number one had already made admissions, hence, I put it upon myself to phone Brigadier Bongani Gininda to say he [the accused] is making admissions with regards to the murder of Senzo Meyiwa.
She said the reason Gininda had suggested that they all meet at the police station “is because I called him to say we have the admission and the information was now leading us to a hostel in Vosloorus”.
Mngomezulu has questioned the legitimacy of the arrest warrant issued for Sibiya.
“I want to mention that these witnesses are not reliable witnesses and, through my cross-examination, I will demonstrate that you are not a reliable witness — it is very easy for you when you are ascending that witness box to say you deny,” he said to Mogola on Wednesday.
The defence has also alleged that accused number two, Ntanzi, was taken to a dumping site near Alberton after his arrest and was choked and subjected to electric shocks by police officials. Last week, one of them, Vusimuzi Mogane, who escorted Ntanzi to the police station, denied allegations of assault made against him.
This comes after automatic vehicle location recordings showed that the vehicle used to transport the accused had stopped along the N12 in Johannesburg.
Mogane said he had gone to a petrol station to check the tyres because he felt that the vehicle was not balanced.
Sibiya, Ntanzi and three other men accused of killing Meyiwa at the home of his girlfriend, singer Kelly Khumalo in October 2014 have all pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and the illegal possession of ammunition.
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