The five people on trial — Ncube, Bongani Ntanzi, Mthokozisi Maphisa, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya and Fisokuhle Ntuli — have pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and the illegal possession of ammunition. (Gallo Images/OJ Koloti)
The fifth state witness in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, Sergeant Moses Mabasa, on Tuesday described to the Pretoria high court a photo of a man with dreadlocks, wearing a beige hoodie, found on the cellphone of accused number three, Mthobisi Ncube.
Mabasa, who is an investigator and a phone analyst, looking specifically at incoming and outgoing call records, told the court he was asked to analyse the photos by the investigating officer in the case. This included data saved on the phone and on a memory card.
On Monday, the fourth state witness, Colonel Lambertus Steyn, said phone images downloaded by the police when Ncube was arrested for an unrelated firearm case showed that he had had dreadlocks the day before and on the day of the footballer’s murder.
Defence advocate Charles Mnisi, representing Ncube, questioned Steyn’s certainty that the person in the photo was accused number three.
In response, Steyn said: “That is correct my lord … I’m certain, my lord.”
Mabasa told the court about a photo of a 9mm pistol that was captioned “Umshini wam wokubulala” [My killing machine].
Soccer star Meyiwa was murdered in what the state believes was a botched robbery in Vosloorus, Gauteng, in 2014.
The murder trial started again from scratch with a new judge, Ratha Mokgoatlheng, who replaced Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela after he was suspended for misconduct for failing to deliver judgments within a reasonable period.
The five people on trial — Ncube, Bongani Ntanzi, Mthokozisi Maphisa, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya and Fisokuhle Ntuli — have pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and the illegal possession of ammunition.