Kgomotso Modise3 September 2024 | 15:30

Meyiwa murder trial: Defence accuses ballistic expert of ignoring his training & wanting to 'nail' accused

Ballistics expert Chris Mangena spent another day under cross-examination in the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday.

Meyiwa murder trial: Defence accuses ballistic expert of ignoring his training & wanting to 'nail' accused

The Senzo Meyiwa murder trial resumed in the Pretoria High Court on 22 January 2024. Picture: Kgomotso Modise/Eyewitness News

JOHANNESBURG -The defence in the Senzo Meyiwa trial has accused the State's ballistics expert of going against what he was taught and ignoring his training and going out of his way to nail the third accused as the gunman behind the footballer's murder.

Ballistics expert Chris Mangena spent another day under cross-examination in the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday.

His evidence linking the bullet found on the scene of Meyiwa’s murder and Mthobisi Mncube’s gun is under scrutiny.

Mncube and 4 others stand accused of the Bafana Bafana captain's 2014 murder.
  
"My Lord, I will say it with confidence and I am 100 percent sure that the bullet that was found at the crime scene is positively linked to this firearm," said Mangena.

ALSO READ: Defence puts State ballistic expert's understanding of theory to the test

Mangena insisted that his analysis was clear, accurate and unbiased.

But Mncube's lawyer, advocate Charles Mnisi, insisted that Mangena went out of his way to pin the murder of Meyiwa on his client.

"Despite the fact that in your own version where you said there was no proper transferability or reproducibility of the striation, nonetheless, you went on to find that the bullet that was found on the scene does accord and compare with the bullets which you have fired and the reason why you did that is because you wanted to nail Mr Mncube as the State told you to do," said Mnisi.

Mangena’s cross-examination continues on Wednesday.