Meyiwa trial: Ntanzi says he's still pained by torture he claims police inflicted on him
Bongani Ntanzi took to the stand to testify against the admission of confession statements as evidence, which he said he was suffocated and tortured into signing.
Bongani Ntanzi, one of the men accused of murdering Senzo Meyiwa, appeared in the Pretoria High Court on 28 April 2023. Picture: Kgomotso Modise/Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - One of the men accused of murdering Senzo Meyiwa told the Pretoria High Court that his heart remains pained by the torture allegedly inflicted on him by police.
The youngest of the accused, Bongani Ntanzi, took to the witness stand on Thursday to testify against the admission of confession statements as evidence, saying he was suffocated and tortured to sign.
Ntanzi signed two confessions, implicating him and others in the footballer’s murder, after his arrest in June 2020.
He told the court that while being examined by his lawyer Sipho Ramosepele, he signed so that the assault by police would cease.
“How did you feel as that plastic bag was placed over your head?” he was asked.
“It was painful because it was the first time that it was happening. Even as I am before you here, my heart is very painful,” Ntanzi replied.
By law, a confession can only be admissible if it was made freely and voluntarily.