Senzo Meyiwa murder trial: Court to determine admissibility of alleged confession recording
The Pretoria High Court will determine the admissibility of a recording in which one of Senzo Meyiwa’s alleged killers can be heard confessing to his involvement in the crime.
The defence spent Thursday arguing against the recording being admitted as evidence and played in court.
The lawyers argued that the recording was acquired unconstitutionally because the magistrate who recorded it did not declare to Bongani Ntanzi, who was allegedly confessing.
The State is in possession of confessions by Ntanzi and Muzikawkhulelwa Sibiya, two of the five men accused of Meyiwa’s 2014 killing.
At this stage, the court is hearing arguments on the introductory part of the recording to be heard, which covers Ntanzi’s rights.
Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng has the duty of delivering a potentially precedent-setting ruling on Friday, as the matter at hand has never been heard in a South African court before.
State advocate George Baloyi argued that there was nothing by law prohibiting the recording by Magistrate Vivian Cronje from being used, as it passed the relevance test and could be categorized as real evidence.
But the lawyer for the fifth accused, Advocate Zandile Mshololo, argued that Cronje’s conduct rendered the recording inadmissible.
“The magistrate ought to have explained the constitutional rights of the accused, specific to the recording, to say, ‘above what I will be taking down, I will also be recording, and the voice recording will be used in court against you.’”
While Baloyi suggested that the judge listen to the recording in court to determine its admissibility, Mshololo objected to that, saying a ruling should be handed down first because the recording contains incriminating evidence.
-EWN
In other news – Actress Deli Malinga reportedly not leaving ‘Umkhokha: The Curse’
Ex-Generations actress Deli Malinga who currently plays the role of Mamzobe in Umkhokha: The Curse is staying with the telenovela. Entertainment commentator Phil Mphela has announced that Umkhokha: The Curse actress Deli Malinga is not leaving the show.
This comes after isiZulu publication Isolezwe reported that Uzalo actress Baby Cele might replace fan-favourite actress Deli Malinga as Mamzobe in the telenovela. Read More
