Meyiwa trial: State witness did not know what accused was arrested for
The police officer who took the alleged confession from accused number one in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, told the court on Tuesday that he did not know at the time what the accused had been arrested for.
Lieutenant Colonel Nkosikhona Hadebe, who testified that he was the officer who conducted the pointing out of a crime scene with Sibiya on 5 June 2020, took the stand as the fourth state witness in a “trial within a trial” to determine whether confessions made by Sibiya and another accused, Bongani Ntanzi, are admissible.
The two are among five men accused in the murder of the footballer at the home of his girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo, on 26 October 2014 in Vosloorus, Gauteng. They 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.
Under cross-examination on Tuesday by defence advocate Thulani Mngomezulu, Hadebe said Sibiya told him he had been arrested for drug dealing.
“I did not ask him what he was arrested for because he informed me he knew what he was arrested for and he was in custody for dealing in drugs,” Hadebe told the Pretoria high court.
“The accused never told me he would point out in relation to dealing with drugs. He told me he was arrested for a drug-related case. In my mind, the accused was going to point out whatever he wanted to point out.”
Hadebe also said he had very little knowledge about Meyiwa’s death and only heard of it on television.
Mngomezulu questioned whether Habede knew that the pointing out of the crime scene was related to Meyiwa’s death, asking the state witness: “Did that not contradict with the information you got from accused number one prior to the pointing out?”
Hadebe responded: “When I asked the accused, his answer was ‘yes, I was informed’. I took it that he knows what he says he was informed of.”
Hadebe added that Sibiya had told him he would point out the crime scene freely, voluntarily and without being induced by anyone.
Mngomezulu asked whether Habede knew that Sibiya had been kept at the Alberton police station prior to being taken to Vosloorus to point out the crime scene, where he was allegedly assaulted and tortured.
In response, Hadebe said: “The only reason would be that he is transferred from a specific station to Alberton.”
Mngomezulu asked: “So you are not in dispute that from Villieria police station [in Pretoria] to Vosloorus, he was assaulted and then taken to Alberton?”
“My instruction is that he was arrested on 30 May 2020. During his arrest, he was then taken to Vosloorus next to a municipality area where he was assaulted and tortured with a plastic bag on his head. Thereafter he was transported to Alberton and during that time he was assaulted in the presence of Colonel [Mhlanganyelwa Moses] Mbotho,” the defence lawyer added.
“I cannot confirm what I did not see,” Hadebe replied.
He added that Sibiya had told him that he was not assaulted and that photographs taken on that day showed him with no visible injuries.
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