A statement by a deceased police officer, Brigadier Philani Ndlovu, was used on Tuesday to cross-examine forensic officer Sergeant Thabo Mosia, who was part of the team that handled the crime scene where football star Senzo Meyiwa was gunned down.
PRETORIA – A statement by a deceased police officer, Brigadier Philani Ndlovu, was used on Tuesday to cross-examine forensic officer Sergeant Thabo Mosia, who was part of the team that handled the crime scene where former football star Senzo Meyiwa was gunned down.
Ndlovu’s statement was described as hearsay evidence as he is deceased and won’t be able to defend it in court.
Advocate Zandile Mshololo, who is representing accused number five, Fisokuhle Ntuli, brought an application requesting that Ndlovu’s statement be used, saying it was in the interest of justice as it contained evidence related to the crime scene.
She told the court that the commissioner who deposed the statement in July 2019 would be called to court to confirm the authenticity of the statement.
At the time of Meyiwa’s death, Ndlovu was the head of detectives in Gauteng.
He was one of the people expected to testify at the trial.
He died on May 11, 2022. The cause of his death is still unclear.
Ndlovu’s statement had contradictory information to what Sergeant Mosia had previously told the court.
Mosia testified that he took pictures of the crime scene as he was directed by Ndlovu, however, Ndlovu disputes this in his statement.
“I did not point out any exhibits to him as I was not in charge of the scene,” Mshololo read out Ndlovu’s statement.
“I think there is a mistake. In my scene report he signed that he was with me and that he was assisting and pointing out some things,” replied Mosia.
Mshololo reiterated that there is no signature from Ndlovu in any of the documents admitting that he assisted Mosia.
Mosia said the report doesn’t provide any space to sign as proof that he was assisted.
Mosia had also told the court that Ndlovu had failed to provide him with an address to the crime scene and he had to go to hospital first to get it.
However, this information was also disputed in Ndlovu’s statement. In his statement, Ndlovu stated that he gave Mosia the address of the crime scene as he was already there.
The cross-examination continues on Wednesday.
Earlier, Mshololo had to drop her application of the second docket being used in court after judge Tshifhiwa Maumela said it would be unwise to follow the application as it would be time consuming and take away focus from the main trial.
On Monday, Mshololo had brought an application arguing that docket 375 should be allowed in the current trial as it contained evidence of the crime scene.
In the 375 case docket, police officers are of the view that no intruder entered the house and the investigators believe the people who were with Meyiwa in the house must be arrested and charged for the gruesome murder
Meyiwa was killed in 2014 while visiting his girlfriend and the mother of his child, singer Kelly Khumalo, in Vosloorus.
In the house, that day were Meyiwa, Kelly and her younger sister, Zandile, their mother Ntombi Khumalo, Longwe Twala, Meyiwa’s friends Mthokozisi Thwala and Tumelo Madlala, Kelly’s then four-year-old son, Christian, and Thingo, her daughter with Meyiwa.
Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthobisi Prince Ncube, Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa and Fisokuhle Ntuli are the five accused facing charges for the murder of Meyiwa.
