Forensic officers who attended the scene where Senzo Meyiwa was shot in Vosloorus faced a tough day under cross-examination over veracity of photographs and missed evidence.
As the trial against the accused Mthobisi Mncube, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Sifisokuhle Ntuli resumed in the High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday, the State called Lieutenant-Colonel Thobeka Mhlahlo, one of the forensic officers who visited the Vosloorus home of Kelly Khumalo.
Even before Mhlahlo began with her evidence, advocate Zithulele Nxumalo had a tiff with Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng about bringing an application before the court about the sealing, packaging and transportation of the evidence bags.
Mokgoatlheng, however, stressed to the legal counsel the complexity of his application as he pointed out that what was done was a chain that the officials had followed.
“What was delivered was what was captured and downloaded from the camera. Where is the issue?”
Mhlahlo told the court how the scene was processed from the time she arrived at about 9.10am the following morning up until she left at about 2.30pm.
She said they followed the bullet damage on the kitchen door of Khumalo’s mother’s home in Vosloorus which led them to where the bullet lay on the kitchen counter behind the glass jars.
Advocate Sipho Ramosepele questioned the officer who testified that she found the bullet head on the kitchen counter about why other officers who had visited the scene beforehand "had not noticed the bullet head”.
Meyiwa was shot and killed on October 26, 2014, when two intruders allegedly entered the house and demanded cellphones and money before a scuffle ensued during which the fatal shot was fired.
Five men are standing trial for the murder, as well as facing charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Mosia, who concluded giving his evidence in court before Mhlahlo’s testimony, also told the court that the bullet projectile was found only the next morning by the lieutenant colonel.
The trial continues today.