The five men accused of killing Senzo Meyiwa - Muzikawukhulelwa Sthemba Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthobisi Prince Ncube, Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa, and Fisokuhle Nkani Ntuli - appear in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. File picture: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
ONE OF the murder accused in the Senzo Meyiwa case, Bongani Ntanzi, has told the court that several police officers had lied about the circumstances of his arrest.
Ntanzi, who is the second accused, is currently on the stand in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
The court is currently in a trial-within-a-trial to determine the admissibility of Ntanzi’s confession statement, which was made shortly after his arrest on on June 16, 2020.
Two of the five accused - Ntanzi and Muzikawkhulelwa Sibiya - claim they were severely assaulted and forced to confess to the murder of the Orlando Pirates goalkeeper.
On Tuesday, Ntanzi was cross-examined by the State prosecutor, advocate Ronnie Sibanda, who asked him whether ammunition was found when the police searched his residence in Freedom Park, North West.
“I was not there when they searched, but I know they didn’t find anything, they’re lying,” he said.
According to Ntanzi, he was left in the car when the police went into the house and came back with a black plastic bag that they said contained ammunition.
Sibanda asked Ntanzi, if nothing was found, why was he facing another charge of unlawful possession of ammunition that is currently in the Phokeng Magistrate’s Court.
"They are lying, I didn’t even see what was inside the plastic bag, when I asked them to open it and show me what’s inside, they refused.“
He said he was charged without ever seeing the ammunition.
Sergeant Bathobakae Mogola, who was among the police that arrested Ntanzi on June 16, 2020, previously testified that he was in their company when they went back to his residence to look for a hoodie that was worn by one of the alleged intruders.
Sergeant Mogola said the hoodie was not found, but they found ammunition and Ntanzi did not at any stage deny that it was his.
On Monday, he also denied having knowledge of another matter in Nongoma, KwaZulu-Natal, where he’s facing a charge of murder and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Ntanzi denied knowing anything about the case, despite his legal representative, advocate Thulani Mngomezulu, trying to use the case to fault the police on how they arrested him regarding the Meyiwa matter.
According to Mngomezulu, Ntanzi’s arrest was unlawful because the police approached him with a warrant of arrest relating to the Nongoma matter.
Ntanzi denied any involvement in all the crimes and said he was hurt by all the accusations.
The trial continues.