The five men accused of the murder of Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa appear in the Pretoria High Court. Photo: Phill Magakoe/Gallo Images
Bongani Ntanzi, the second accused in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, testified that he was tricked through a false job offer to disclose his address to police officers ahead of his June 2020 arrest.
On Thursday, in the Pretoria high court, Ntanzi claimed a person named “Mamfundisi” misled the accused into giving out his address before his 16 June 2020 arrest. Mamfundisi is a name usually given to a female priest or the wife of a male preacher.
Ntanzi took the stand as the defence’s second witness in the continuing “trial within a trial” to determine whether confessions made by him and accused number one, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, were admissible.
Sibiya’s lawyer, Thulani Mngomezulu, told the court that his initial second witness, who was supposed to take the stand after his client, did not make it to court and, therefore, it was his instruction to close the case regarding Sibiya.
Sibiya and Ntanzi are among five men accused of killing the footballer at the home of his girlfriend Kelly Khumalo on 26 October 2014 in Vosloorus, Gauteng. The other accused are Mthobisi Ncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Fisokuhle Ntuli.
“This person introduced themself as a police officer from Gauteng and I requested that person to change [to a] private number — then the person phoned with an 011 number and asked me if I was interested in a job,” Ntanzi said.
He said he asked what kind of job it was because he was already employed.
“The person did not specify what job it was. It was a woman, when I asked her name, she did not want to tell me, instead she ended up saying she was Mamfundisi,” he added, responding to his lawyer Sipho Ramosepele’s questions.
Ntanzi further claimed that Mamfundisi said there was a case she was looking for regarding him, saying: “Let me be honest, I am looking for you regarding the Senzo Meyiwa matter.”
He added that on 16 June 2020, when he was sleeping at his home in Rustenburg, where he lived with his girlfriend Lebohile Phetane, he heard a knock.
“When I opened [the door], there were two males. They entered and greeted and introduced themselves as police officers. One of them said, ‘We are looking for you Siyanda.’ I then asked why he was referring to me as Siyanda because I am not Siyanda,” Ntanzi said.
Ntanzi said the police officers asked him to produce his identity document and he asked them to give him proof that they were police officers.
“Only the one who was well built did produce [identification]. The other one did not. Then I knew their names as Sergeant [Vusimuzi] Mogane and Sergeant [Steven] Mabena. I gave them my phones.”
Last year, Mogane took the stand and told the court that an informant had told the police about Ntanzi’s alleged involvement in the murder of the Bafana Bafana captain.
“We looked into it and tried to establish how we could locate him and we found out he worked at a mine in Westonaria. We looked for him but we could not find him,” Mogane had said.
More alleged crimes that Ntanzi was involved in were discovered, Mogane said.
“There was another big case in Nongoma which he was involved in and another case of Vosloorus but that had nothing to do with this matter.”
Ntanzi, on Thursday, said Mogane used his phone to call one of the accused’s phones. Ntanzi added that when the phone rang, the officer said, “Go and get dressed, we are looking for you.”
He said after getting dressed, Mogane handcuffed him.
“When I asked why they were calling me by a name which was not mine and why they took my phones, Mabena said I should not ask them shit, and Mabena smacked me and I was taken into an unmarked Toyota Fortuner,” Ntanzi said.
Ramosepele asked if his rights were read to him, Ntanzi said he would not know because of the language barrier between him and the officers.
Ntanzi said they went to Phokeng police station and, on their way, Mabena kept assaulting him and asking him where he was on the day Meyiwa was killed.
“I then responded that I won’t be able to answer you because you have assaulted me.
“I remained in the car with Mabena and Mogane went inside. Thereafter, the vehicle proceeded to a police station here in Pretoria. I only learnt the name of the police station later, that it was Pretoria Moot,” he said.
Arriving in Pretoria, Ntanzi said there was a person who arrived who was in possession of a camera and was accompanied by Mogane.
“The person then took photos of me. He also instructed me to take off my upper clothes and shoes to take pictures and then they took me back to the cell,” the accused testified.
“When Mogane came back with Mabena, they opened up for me and placed handcuffs on me. We got into a spacious place with a table,” Ntanzi said, adding that only the lead investigator Bongani Gininda introduced himself among the many people in the room.
“Gininda asked me to take off my [Covid] mask. He also removed his mask and asked me where I was in October 2014. I said I do not recall where I was because I work and I also like to go home,” Ntanzi responded.
Ntanzi said he was asked to take his clothes off again and asked if he ever had tattoos and whether he was arrested before.
“I said I had never had tattoos or been arrested. He also asked me to open my mouth and I did. Mabena was looking at me. He then asked me if I ever had a gold tooth and I said no,” he said.
Last Friday, dentist and state witness Thabang Hlokwe testified that Ntanzi was brought to Thlabane community health centre for an examination and the police officer told him to check if the patient had a gold tooth. Hlokwe said he found that Ntanzi did not have a gold tooth.
On 18 June 2020, Ntanzi was taken to his workplace, a mine in Carltonville, adding that he never gave the officers the address to his employment. Instead, when the officers arrived, Ntanzi said he showed them the shaft he worked in, shaft eight. The accused alleged that he was with the officers for 17 hours after they left Pretoria on their way to Carltonville.
Last November, during Mogane’s cross examination, the defence claimed that the 17 hours Ntanzi was booked out for was because the accused was being assaulted and tortured into making a confession.
In response, Mogane claimed he drove around with Ntanzi because he did not want the accused to be alone and bored in his cell.
Ntanzi, on Thursday, detailed how he was allegedly assaulted after leaving his workplace, saying his “heart breaks” when recounting how officers allegedly tubed him using a plastic bag from a major retailer to suffocate him, and how one of the officers blocked him from exiting the car.
“I was repeatedly tubed until I would tell them to stop. Although I would not be in a position to see who would be slapping me, it was the one facing me, it was Jonathan [Constable Wendell].”
Ntanzi said Mogane did not assault him: “Mabena would tube me and the seat was pressed against me so that I could not exit the car. The other occupant [Mogane] did not do anything. He was just on his phone.”
He further claimed that the “torture” continued at an unknown dumpsite.
“They took me out of the vehicle and made me stand next to the stairs. They asked if I still did not want to tell the truth. Different cuffs were then used to tie me to the stairs,” an emotional Ntanzi said.
“Mabena then placed the plastic bag again on the head. I would also be electrocuted and poured with water.”
All of the accused have pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and the illegal possession of ammunition.