Meyiwa trail: Cops drove around with accused as they ‘did not want him to be bored’
A witness in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial Sergeant Vusumuzi Mogane has defended the police’s decision to drive around for some 17 hours with accused number two Bongani Ntanzi
Mogane, who is one of the police officers who arrested Ntanzi in Rustenburg, testified in court on Tuesday that Ntanzi was booked out of Moot Police Station in Pretoria early on 17 June 2020 and only brought back in the early hours of the next day.
Mogane told the court they did not take Ntanzi back to police holding cells, as they did not want him to get bored.
“He did not have a problem going with us because when we asked him if he was okay with going with us he agreed. The problem is that if he was taken to the cells, he was going to be locked alone and bored.
“If he wanted to refuse, he could. But when we asked him if he was okay with going with us because we still had other things to do, he agreed.”
The conduct of the police in the Meyiwa trial has come under scrutiny in the trial within a trial.
According to the defence team for Ntanzi and accused number one Muzi Sibiya and Ntanzi, both of his clients were assaulted into confessing the details of Meyiwa’s murder.
Adv Thulani Mngomezulu further argued that the police also electrocuted Ntanzi.
This is a version that has been denied by other witnesses and Mogane, who is currently on the stand.
“I dispute that at the rate at which he claims was beaten, then he could’ve been taken to hospital or should’ve said something.”
The trial continues on Wednesday.
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