Five accused in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. from left: Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthobisi Prince Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Fisokuhle Ntuli. Picture: Oupa Mokoena/Independent Newspapers
A retired warden at Qalakabusha Correctional Centre testified that he confiscated a cellphone from one of the men accused of killing Senzo Meyiwa, the former Bafana Bafana captain.
Sibusiso Yaka testified in the North Gauteng High Court on Monday and told the court that he was the head of Qalakabusha prison for seven years.
Yaka said, on August 19, 2020, he received a call from an unknown number and he was informed that Ntuli had a cellphone in his cell.
State prosecutor Advocate George Baloyi, who led Yaka in giving evidence, instructed him not to reveal who had called or the exact contents of the conversation.
“The information I received directed me to Ntuli’s cell and I went there. He was with other two other inmates. I asked Ntuli to give me a cellphone, he didn’t give me any problem, he took it out from the side of the bed and gave it to me,” Yaka said.
Yaka said he went to his superior and told him he was worried because its not know what Ntuli was discussing or planning.
He said on the day he found the phone, investigators in the Meyiwa’s murder case were scheduled to come to the prison and when they arrived, he gave them them the phone.
He gave it lead investigator Brigadier Bongani Gininda who was in the company of Sergeant Vusumuzi Mogane.
“The phone was placed in a plastic bag which was tightly sealed and handed to the investigators. We told the investigators to inform us whether Ntuli was plotting an escape so that we can tighten our security,” he said.
Yaka said he wasn’t sure about the model of the phone but knows that it was a Stylo.
During cross-examination by Ntuli’s legal representative, advocate Zandile Mshololo, Yaka said he didn’t check the phone’s IMEI number.
“I didn’t even open it, I took it as it was and gave it to the investigators.”
Mshololo said Ntuli denies that he was found with a cellphone and also maintained that they were two in the cell and not three as Yaka testified.
“I know who I got the phone from, I didn’t just pick it up. I told Ntuli to give me the phone and he gave me without an hesitation. Ntuli had a lot of respect for me and never gave me any issues,” Yaka said.
When asked if he did record the incident, Yaka said he wrote on the prison’s occurrence book.
“I’m no longer a member of the State so I can’t access the books because they belong to the State,” he said.
“Can the books be accessed upon request,” asked Mshololo
Yaka replied: “Yes, I think its possible.”
Meyiwa was gunned down at his girlfriend Kelly Khumalo’s Vosloorus home in a suspected robbery, on October 26, 2014.
The people who were in the house on the day Meyiwa was murdered, were Kelly and her younger sister, Zandile, their mother Ntombi Khumalo (MaKhumalo), Longwe Twala, Meyiwa’s friends, Mthokozisi Thwala and Tumelo Madlala, Kelly’s then four-year-old son, Christian, and Thingo, her daughter with Meyiwa.
Five men—Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthokoziseni Maphisa, Mthobisi Mncube, and Ntuli—are on trial for the murder of Meyiwa.
The trial continues on Tuesday.
brenda.masilela@iol.co.za
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