High Court rules Meyiwa accused’s confession inadmissible
The High Court in Pretoria has ruled a recorded confession
by accused number two in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial to be inadmissible as
evidence.
Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng handed down his judgement in the trial-within-a-trial on Friday.
"But in this case, I will review that accuse number two's right to a fair trial was infringed by the making of the audio recorded by the magistrate Cronje."
The more than three-hour-long audio recording is of Bongani Ntanzi allegedly confessing to Magistrate Vivian Cronje in June 2020.
The State had initially said it would not admit it as evidence but then changed its mind.
READ: Defence to contest admissibility of ‘confessions’ by two accused in Meyiwa trial
A trial-within-a-trial to determine inadmissibility began last Friday, with arguments being heard this week.
The court heard Cronje did not inform Ntanzi nor his lawyer, who was present, that she was recording the confession.
Five men are on trial for the 2014 murder of the former Bafana Bafana captain.
Judge Mokgoatlheng says the evidence was acquired unconstitutionally.
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