The defence attorney in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial in the Pretoria high court told the second witness that the case had been poorly investigated because it was investigated by inexperienced officers.
Counsel for the fifth accused in the Senzo Meyiwa trial, Advocate Zandile Mshololo told Sgt Patrick Mlungisi Mthethwa at his cross-examination on Friday that had he not left the crime scene unprotected, it would not have been cleaned.
“It’s because you were inexperienced. All of you were juniors. There was no-one to advise you on the work you were doing, and this case has been poorly investigated because it has been attended by inexperienced officers, incompetent,” she said.
Mshololo asked Mthethwa to divulge to the court information about what his highest qualification obtained at the time was, to which Mthethwa refused to answer, telling the court that he does not understand the importance of the question.
However, under Mshololo’s grilling on Thursday, Mthethwa said that he went to the crime scene with his colleague Sergeant Mathebula and revealed that they were both juniors at the time, telling the court that he only had about five years of experience.
The court also heard that he had a certificate that he said he obtained during his training at the SAPS. Cracking under pressure he changed his story and revealed that two other students were travelling with them, meaning it was four of them who attended the crime scene.
“I have a reason why I didn’t mention them. It is because they were students and were not even allowed to drive the work car,” Mthethwa told the court.
Mshololo then questioned Mthethwa about how he left the crime scene. Mthethwa said at the time, he did not know it was a crime scene because Themba could not tell the police whether the shooting happened inside or outside the yard.
He said they had to go to the hospital to find witnesses to establish what and where the shooting occurred.
Msholo said: “Before you arrived, the crime scene was cleaned. Have you not left the crime scene unattended, those people would not have been able to enter the house and clean the crime scene.”
Source: News24, Times live, SABC News, Sunday World, Eyewitness News, image from Twitter: The Saturday Star