Meyiwa trial: Investigator explains why he circled Alberton, Germiston for hours
Sergeant Vusumuzi Mogane has faced tough questions in the Pretoria High Court on the vehicle tracking data from the car he was driving.
JOHANNESBURG - A lead investigator in the Senzo Meyiwa trial has been asked to account for over 9 hours of circling the Alberton and Germiston areas while escorting one of the accused.
Sergeant Vusumuzi Mogane has faced tough questions in the Pretoria High Court on the vehicle tracking data from the car he was driving.
The court has been hearing testimony from 18 June 2020, when Mogane took Bongani Ntanzi to his former place of employment in Carltonville at the Sibanye-Stillwater mine.
Ntanzi claims he was assaulted by police and tortured for hours before being forced to sign a confession statement the next day.
Vehicle tracking evidence has shown how the police Fortuner that was transporting Bongani Ntanzi left Carltonville at around 5pm on 18 June and arrived at a petrol station in Alberton at around 6:30pm in the evening.
The data then shows how the vehicle moved between Alberton and Germiston multiple times for about four hours.
Ntanzi claims this was when police assaulted and tortured him, forcing him to confess to his alleged involvement in the murder of Senzo Meyiwa.
But Sergeant Vusumuzi Mogane said he was merely experiencing car problems and that’s why they stopped at the petrol station.
"As you see the vehicle idling for some time, it was when we were trying to move it around to see if it would be able to move further."
But when reminded that on Tuesday he told the court that the car was newly serviced this is what he had to say.
"Vehicles, like people, experience illness sometimes."
The matter will resume in the Pretoria High Court on Thursday.
