The second suspect in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, Bongani Ntanzi. Picture: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
Defence attorneys of the accused in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial have now added claims of torture by electrocution against police officers who were involved in the investigation of the footballer’s murder.
The Gauteng North High Court in Pretoria continued to hear testimony from Constable Wendell Jonathan, who was one of the Ekurhuleni Metro Police (EMPD) Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) units who was involved in escorting accused one and two - Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya and Bongani Ntanzi.
The court is currently in a trial-within-a-trial to determine if the alleged confessions by Sibiya and Ntanzi were made freely and voluntarily.
Under cross-examination by defence advocate Thulani Mngomezulu on Monday, Jonathan and his partner, along with Sergeant Mabena and Colonel Buthelezi, it was claimed that they assaulted, tortured, tubed and electrocuted Ntanzi.
In one incident, apparently near a garage in Alberton, he said Jonathan violently pushed back the GTI seat onto Ntanzi’s knees, pressing hard against him, while Sergeant Mabena used a grey plastic bag to tube him.
“I was never at a garage with the accused and Sergeant Mogane,” Jonathan told the court.
Mngomezulu said they proceeded to a dumping site near Alberton, where the investigating officer, Brigadier Bongani Gininda, apparently arrived. Gininda is the head of the SA Police Service’s Cold Case Unit.
He said Ntanzi was tied to a steel pole and poured with cold water, and Gininda warned him to tell the truth about Meyiwa's death.
“During the course of that, a plastic bag was put over his face for the tubing to continue.
“There was a device used to electrocute the accused. He was electrocuted in the stomach. You (Jonathan), Mabena, and Buthelezi took turns during use of this device.”
Jonathan denied this and said, “The first time I met the suspect was at the Moroka police station.”
Mngomezulu said Ntanzi said the confession was made under duress and coercion.
He added that the accused had told him that he felt like crying when he saw Jonathan because he had beat him so much.
Jonathan said he did not know the accused.
The cross-examination will continue on Tuesday.
IOL News