The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria dismissed an application by the defence, which wanted Bongani Ntanzi’s dentist report not to be used as evidence in the murder trial of soccer star Senzo Meyiwa.
The report shows that Ntanzi did not have any oral injuries supporting his assault claims.
According to Ntanzi, he was severely assaulted by police officers for days on end in an attempt to get a confession about Meyiwa’s murder.
The court had to go into a trial-within-a-trial to determine if the confessions made by Ntanzi and Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya were taken freely and voluntarily.
All officers who were involved in the arrest of Ntanzi and Sibiya were called to testify.
On Wednesday, the defence objected to the use of the dentist report while the State was using it to cross-examine Sergeant Vusumuzi Mogane.
Mogane, a sergeant from the National Cold Case Unit of the SA Police Service (SAPS), was one of the officers that arrested Ntanzi on June 16, 2020.
According to Mogane, they took Ntanzi to the dentist on June 22 to determine if he ever had a gold tooth, as it was understood that one of the alleged intruders had one.
On Thursday, Ntanzi’s defence, advocate Thulani Mngomezulu made submissions regarding the document, saying he only submitted the dental report to show the court that on that day, his client was not taken to court but was at the dentist, and therefore, the report can’t be used against his client as part of the evidence.
Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng asked Mngomezulu if he wanted the court to only consider the part of the date and ignore other details.
Mngomezulu said the document could not be accepted as evidence since it was merely a copy and not an original copy.
He further added that he had reached an agreement with the State to let the dentist come and testify.
“Ok, but your agreement with the State doesn’t bind me,” said Mokgoatlheng.
Mngomezulu also challenged the State for bringing evidence regarding a vehicle that transported Ntanzi on the days he alleges that he was assaulted.
According to Mogane, the car had an Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) installed, and the data will show all the places where the car went.
Mngomezulu said this evidence can’t be used in court because the State didn’t bring it during Mogane’s evidence in chief but only brought the evidence during cross-examination.
The judge asked the State and the defence to prepare heads of arguments regarding the AVL evidence, and he will make a ruling after listening to all arguments.
The arguments will be heard on Friday.
IOL