The expected testimony of police ballistics expert Captain Christian Mangena — a witness in convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius’s trial — will attempt to link the accused to the alleged murder weapon in the Senzo Meyiwa trial
The expected testimony of police ballistics expert Captain Christian Mangena — a witness in convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius’s trial — will attempt to link the accused to the alleged murder weapon in the Senzo Meyiwa trial, although the state’s first witness cast doubt on its case.
This week, defence advocate Dan Teffo said Mangena would be called by the state to prove its allegation that the gun used to kill the football star was found in the possession of Mthobi Ncube, one of Teffo’s four clients and the third accused in the murder trial.
Outlining how he would present his case, prosecutor George Baloyi said in his opening statement last Friday that the state would call a ballistics expert to match a “spent bullet” found in the kitchen of the Vosloorus house where Meyiwa died to the gun he said police had seized from Ncube.
Teffo is representing Ncube, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi and Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke, while Zandile Mshololo is representing Fisokuhle Ntuli, the fifth accused.
They face charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, possession of firearms without a licence and the possession of ammunition for the October 2014 killing of the Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana captain at the home of singer Kelly Khumalo, who was Meyiwa’s lover.
The state argues that Meyiwa’s murder was the result of a planned robbery gone wrong.
Last Friday, Baloyi said a photograph of the alleged murder weapon, a 9mm Parabellum, had been found on Ncube’s phone, captioned: “My killing machine.”
On Tuesday, during his cross examination of Sergeant Thabo Mosia, the state’s first witness and a police forensic field worker, Teffo told him that Mangena would be the ballistics expert the state would call.
Teffo’s line of questioning sought to cast doubt on the state’s claim of the murder weapon. He asked Mosia whether he knew the difference between the bullet from a revolver and that from a 9mm Parabellum.
Mosia said he did not, adding: “I think, my lord, I have mentioned several times that some of the questions that are coming to me, I am unable to answer them. That question, you can ask any ballistics expert. I think he or she will be able to give you a clear explanation on that.”
Mosia said he was responsible for the “collection, packaging and processing of evidence, and the fast-tracking of evidence [to the] forensic science laboratory”.
Teffo said: “There will be one of the expert witnesses here — Mr Christian Mangena. Are you aware of him?”
Mosia responded that he did know of Mangena.
Under cross-examination he agreed that a revolver, rather than a 9mm Parabellum, could have been used to kill Meyiwa, which appeared to please the defence lawyer. Teffo had asked whether a revolver bullet had a cartridge case (the rear part of a bullet) to which Mosia said it had none, and that no cartridge had been found.
Teffo then asked: “If there can be someone saying that accused number three [Ncube] came in the kitchen with a firearm, 9mm Parabellum, whereby he shot the deceased; having been the person at the scene, and having agreed there was no cartridge, how would you take that?”
Mosia responded: “The firearm that was used might be a revolver firearm due to the fact that there was no cartridge case at the scene.”
Teffo said: “I agree with you, Mr Mosia.”
In addition to the apparent murder weapon contradictions, it emerged in the high court in Pretoria on Tuesday that Mosia had not taken a walking stick found in the house in which Meyiwa was killed for analysis and DNA testing.
Mosia testified that the walking stick was on the kitchen floor and was evidence that a scuffle had preceded Meyiwa’s shooting.
He said he did not take it for testing because he did not think of it as evidence after being informed by other officers at the crime scene that it belonged to one of the five adults in the Khumalo home when Meyiwa was shot.
Teffo told Mosia that the stick belonged to Tumelo Madlala, Meyiwa’s friend from KwaZulu-Natal, adding: “This walking stick was used to assault the suspect, who was inside, by one Zandile Khumalo [Kelly Khumalo’s sister].”
Mosia conceded that he should have taken the stick for analysis, saying: “There could be an availability of DNA, my lord.”
The state will hope that its ballistics expert, Mangena — who gave evidence to convict Pistorius of murder in 2015 for the 14 February 2013 shooting of his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp — will be able to wrestle the case back for Baloyi, who said the state’s case was reliant on credible forensic evidence.
Pistorius was sentenced to 13 years. Mangena was honoured by former national police commissioner Riah Phiyega in March 2015 for his role in the Pistorius conviction.
“Internationally, the media applauded Captain Mangena’s evidence. His self-assurance made him an impressive and effective witness in this [Pistorius] case. The officer [was not] merely [one of the] top ballistics experts in South Africa, but is now deemed one of the top experts internationally.”
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