Senzo Meyiwa trial: Cellphones confiscated in prison show that accused were in contact
Cellphones recovered from Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi and Fisokuhle Ntuli while they were in detention, showed that all five men accused of killing former Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa, were in contact.
The evidence comes after the court heard on Tuesday that accused two, Ntanzi, was found with a Samsung cellphone on February 7, 2021 while he was detained at Villieria police station in Pretoria.
The evidence was revealed by Warrant Officer Lawrence Thabo Ndlovu who downloaded data from a device found in Ntanzi’s possession.
On Monday, Sibusiso Yaka, a retired warden at Qalakabusha Correctional Centre told the court that he confiscated a cellphone on accused five, Fisokuhle Ntuli on August 19, 2020. He said the phone was a Stylo.
Five men—Ntanzi, Ntuli, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Mthokoziseni Maphisa, and Mthobisi Mncube—are on trial for the murder of Meyiwa.
On Wednesday, cellphone data analyst Gideon Gouws testified at the North Gauteng High Court regarding the data found on Ntanzi and Ntuli’s phone.
Gouws started with Ntanzi’s phone and said it had two SIM cards, MTN and Vodacom. However, it was discovered that at some point, he switched from Vodacom to Cell C.
“There were no contacts on the MTN SIM card, the Vodacom SIM card had contacts and the contacts were put on Microsoft Excel sheet...It shows there was communication between all the accused before court. These are all the numbers which show there was communication visa versa,” Gouws said in his testimony.
Gouws added that a memory card obtained from Ntanzi’s phone showed that he had saved a photo from a newspaper article regarding the Meyiwa case.
Regarding Ntuli’s device, Gouws said his device also had two Vodacom SIM cards and most of the data was deleted. He said downloads on the phone were not made and he wasn’t sure why.
However, he found that Ntuli had contacts of his legal representative, advocate Zandile Mshololo and accused three, Mncube.
There was also a photo of him on the phone.
Gouws continues under cross-examination from the defence.
brenda.masilela@iol.co.za
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