The five men on trial for the murder of Senzo Meyiwa. Image: Nokwanda Ncwane/The South African.
BREAKING: Alleged confession of Senzo Meyiwa murder accused inadmissible
The judge in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial has ruled that the alleged audio confession of Bongani Ntanzi will not form part of evidence.
The five men on trial for the murder of Senzo Meyiwa. Image: Nokwanda Ncwane/The South African.
The judge in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial has ruled that the alleged confession of accused 2 Bongani Ntanzi recorded by magistrate Vivienne Cronje is inadmissible as evidence.
Mokgoatlheng made the ruling on Friday, 20 October, after hearing arguments from both the State and defence on Thursday.
CONFESSION INADMISSIBLE IN SENZO MEYIWA TRIAL
As previously reported by The South African, on Tuesday, Cronje took the witness stand and told the court that she took down Ntanzi’s confession statement on 24 June 2020 in the presence of his lawyer and an interpreter. She added that she recorded Ntanzi without the other parties being made aware.
The State previously indicated that it would not use the recording and has since made a U-turn as it wants the recording to be submitted as evidence in the trial-within-a-trial, which looks into the admissibility of the confessions made by accused 1 Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya and Bongani Ntanzi.
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On Thursday, State Prosecutor Advocate George Baloyi argued that the recording was relevant and argued that the principle of best evidence was applicable.
Defence lawyers insisted that Ntanzi’s rights were infringed and that he should have been informed that he was being recorded and that the audio would be used against him in court.
Delivering the judgement, Mokgoatlheng said taking into account that Ntanzi’s rights were infringed it would not be in the interest of justice for the audio recording to form part of the evidence.
“Accused 2 would then be continuously subjected to a trial unfairly when we know that the Constitution engages us and enjoins us to prevent such an exigency, also in the view of this court that would bring the administration of justice into disrepute. Consequently, this court rules that the audio recording should not form part of these proceedings. It is inadmissible,” he said.
Five men are on trial at the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria for the murder of the soccer star, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Ntanzi, Mthobisi Prince Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Fisokuhle Nkani Ntuli. They face charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, robbery with aggravated circumstances, possession of firearms without a licence and possession of ammunition. All five men pleaded not guilty as the trial started afresh under Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng.
The trial continues.
