Lawyers for one of Senzo Meyiwa’s alleged killers welcomed a Pretoria High Court ruling in their favour.
The court declared an audio recording of Bongani Ntanzi’s alleged confession inadmissible.
Ntanzi is one of five men accused of the footballer’s 2014 murder in Vosloorus.
The three-hour recording was secretly captured by magistrate Vivian Cronje who took down Ntanzi’s confession statement in June 2020.
On Friday, Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng ruled that Ntanzi’s right to a fair trial was infringed upon when he was recorded without his knowledge.
His lawyer advocate Thulani Mngomezulu advanced this argument.
“Actually, we are so delighted to receive the outcome or finding of the judge…in that the court found that it was unlawfully obtained so that cannot be used in these proceedings in future.”
MENTAL MANIPULATION
Ntanzi’s lawyer suggested mental manipulation when Ntanzi made an alleged confession.
Mngomezulu spent Friday cross-examining Cronje.
He argued on the presence of police during Ntanzi’s testimony:
“As per your words you said police were heavily armed, psychologically could that not have manipulated his [Ntanzi’s] mental ability?”
Mngomezulu also argued that by virtue of introducing herself as Magistrate Vivian Cronje, there was an element of inducement.
But Cronje reiterated how positive Ntanzi seemed when he testified:
“But this gentleman didn’t appear as someone who was afraid. He appeared calm.”
Cronje is set to return to the stand for cross-examination on Monday.
-EWN
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Well-known Mzansi vocalist Nkosazana Daughter joined the trending Water challenge on TikTok. She has been making many headlines with her dancing, and she seems to be going on. She failed the bum-shaking ‘bhebha’ dance a few months ago, but fans found it funny on TikTok.
Whether she danced badly or even good, fans would find something interesting. With that, she had been joining most of the trending dance challenges that go viral on TikTok. Read More
