By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
A new witness in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, Chupye Christopher Matlou, has told to the Pretoria High Court that accused Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya was in Gauteng when the footballer was murdered.
Matlou is an investigator for the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RMTC). He has direct access to the National Administration Traffic Information System (NaTIS).
The traffic information system includes access to names, addresses, contact information, gender, vehicle details, and infringement notices from the road.
He told the court that the system was used to trace timelines in how Sibiya obtained his learner’s licence. The licence was obtained from the Boksburg licence testing centre. This is the Drivers’ Licence Testing Centre (DLTC).
The timelines place Sibiya in Gauteng in 2014. This is disputing previous arguments that the accused was not in the province around the time that Meyiwa was killed in Vosloorus.
Sibiya had previously claimed that he was in Nongoma, KwaZulu, between 2013 when he lost his job and 2015. In 2015 he allegedly returned to the province to stay with his uncle in Tembisa.
According to the NaTIS system, Sibiya had registered his address as Sotho Hostel in Vosloorus. The system was live-accessed in court for confirmation.
The extracts generated from NaTIS showed that Sibiya made a personal application for a learner’s licence. This was done at the Brakpan DLTC on July 17, 2013. Here he was approved for the test on July 22, 2014, which he failed at the time.
On the same day, he applied again at the Boksburg DLTC, and finally passed his test on September 15, 2014.
The expert also dished out information on infringement notice details linked to accused number five, Fisokuhle Ntuli.
This comes after he received a request email from chief investigator Brigadier Bongani Gininda. The request was for an investigation into a suspect vehicle, and that the findings be documented.
NaTIS records, however, show no information about Bongani Ntanzi’s identity document.
“This means that the accused does not have a learner’s licence, or infringement, or any vehicle registered under his name,” said Matlou.
Sibiya is on trial with other accused Ntanzi, Mthobisi Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Ntuli for Meyiwa’s murder. They have all pleaded not guilty.