Cape Town — The lead investigator in the Senzo Meyiwa Trial, Brigadier Bongani Gininda, will take to the stand in the High Court to present his evidence.
Gininda is set to give his evidence-in-chief on Tuesday t0 Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng in a “trial with-in a trial” to determine whether the confessions made by Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya and Bongani Ntanzi were made freely and voluntarily, this according to IOL.
Sibiya and Ntanzi were arrested in May and June 2020 respectively, after they made confessions to peace officers following Senzo’s death. Their advocate Bheki Mngomezulu disputes the confessions, saying they were assaulted and forced to make the confessions.
State advocate George Baloyi is expected to lead evidence from Gininda which includes admissions, warning statements and new details about the case.
SENZO MEYIWA MURDER TRIAL: BRIGADIER BONGANI GININDA TESTIFIES https://t.co/eb3NzWGTvP
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Gininda first started giving testimony on Monday and began detailing how one of the accused Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya made admissions regarding his involvement in Meyiwa’s murder, EWN reported.
“I further informed him, my lord, that my interview will relate to the killing Senzo Meyiwa. I further, my lord, established from him rather, asking if he had taken any drug substance that day or medication and the answer was, ‘no’. I further asked if he had taken any liquor or intoxicating substance, the answer was, ‘no’,” Gininda said.
According to SABC News, Gininda said, when the case came across his person, Sibiya was already a person of interest in the Meyiwa murder case.
In line with Sergeant Batho-Bakae Mogola’s testimony – the officer who arrested Sibiya – Gininda says he got a report from Mogola that Sibiya was making admissions in relation to the death of the former Bafana Bafana star.
Under cross-examination, Mogola let the court in on a conversation she says she had with Sibiya outside a hostel in Vusumuzi Section in Tembisa the day she arrested him.
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“He started to tell me about his knowledge or his involvement in the matter and I stopped him and I told him he was not compelled to make any confession and that he had the right to consult and that a lawyer could be provided to him at the state’s expense,” she said.
That’s why I further asked him why he was telling me now. He even asked me what I meant by that. I told him you saw people were wrongfully arrested and the matter remains unresolved and why didn’t you come forward and tell the police that, like what you are telling me?
Gininda says when Mogola gave him this report as well as the fact that they would proceed to the hostel in Vosloorus for further investigations, he requested that they meet at the Vosloorus Police Station. This, he says, is where he sought to hear the admissions from the horse’s mouth.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
