Meyiwa murder trial: Defence asks why police rushed witnesses' confession statement
The lead investigator Brigadier Bongani Gininda is back on the witness stand on Tuesday, in the trial within a trial to determine the admissibility of confession statements made by two of the accused.
The Senzo Meyiwa murder trial resumed in the Pretoria High Court on 22 January 2024. Picture: Kgomotso Modise/Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - A defence lawyer in the Senzo Meyiwa trial has questioned the apparent rush by police to have one of the accused make a confession statement on the night of his arrest.
The lead investigator Brigadier Bongani Gininda was back on the witness stand on Tuesday, in the trial within a trial to determine the admissibility of confession statements made by two of the accused.
The trial of five men accused of murdering the Bafana Bafana captain almost a decade ago is unfolding in the Pretoria High Court.
After police arrested Muzikawkhulelwa Sibiya on the afternoon of May 30th, he signed a confession statement on that very evening at the Diepkloof Police Station before Colonel Nhlanganyelwa Mbotho.
The lawyer for the fifth accused Advocate Zandile Mshololo questioned Gininda on why Sibiya’s confession was made before a colonel and not a magistrate.
"It was Saturday, I met him around 19h00 I testified about this I don't know if you can find a magistrate around that time. Secondly my lord, commissioning officers can have the same powers as a justice of the peace."
Mshololo also questioned the police’s hasty approach.
"If someone wants to confess in a complex matter, he's aware of his constitutional rights, he wants to make this confession free and voluntarily and attempts to find an officer and that person is found I wouldn't want to delay."
Gininda will return to the witness stand for further cross-examination on Wednesday.