A police van patrols in front of the house where Senzo Meyiwa was murdered. (MUJAHID SAFODIEN/AFP via Getty Images)
The judge in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, Ratha Mokgoatlheng, on Tuesday ordered state witness and police officer Vusimuzi Mogane to disclose all the cases he was working on the day he drove around with accused number two Bongani Ntanzi for 17 hours.
Mogane, who is attached to the National Cold Case Unit and first took the stand last Thursday, has told the Pretoria high court that in December 2019, the unit was told by an informant that Ntanzi had been involved in the murder of Meyiwa, who was shot dead on 26 October 2014.
On Tuesday, Mogane said he drove around with Ntanzi because he would otherwise have been alone and bored in his cell.
Defence advocate Thulani Mngomezulu representing Ntanzi and accused number one, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, asked the witness: “You booked him out for 17 hours, and the investigation was for four hours. For a period of 10 to 12 hours, what investigation was there?”
Mogane responded: “Like I said there were other cases we were following up but I cannot talk about them because they are not done.”
Mokgoatlheng said Mogane must list all the cases that he was investigating during that time. “I am going to make an order that you disclose all the other cases. But you must do so in the form of a note which should be shared with all the counsel, who may not disclose that information.”
Ntanzi and Sibiya are among five men accused of killing Meyiwa at the home of his girlfriend, singer Kelly Khumalo, in Vosloorus, Gauteng.
Mngomezulu argued that Ntanzi did not have a choice and was booked out for so many hours to be tortured, assaulted and forced to sign a confession by Mogane and other police officers.
Mogane replied: “If he wanted to refuse he could have, we asked him if he wanted to come with us, and he agreed.”
Mogane had previously told the court that during those 17 hours, they drove to Ntanzi’s workplace at Sibanye-Stillwater to confirm whether he had been working on the day of Meyiwa’s murder.
Mogane further disputed the allegations of assault and torture that were put to him by Mngomezulu, saying he and his colleagues were not violent people.
The five men on trial have pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and the illegal possession of ammunition.