By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
SA Police Service (SAPS) Sergeant Moses Mabasa was back in the stand at the trial of the five men charged with the murder of Senzo Meyiwa on Friday, 24 May.
In a riveting turn of events Mabasa, was the fifth state witness and cellphone analyst, revealed damning photo evidence recovered from the phone of accused number three Mthobisi Mncube.
He works as an analyst within the SA Police Service and specialises in the examination of cellphones encompassing the analysis of both incoming and outgoing calls and messages.
Mabasa said in August 2020, he was assigned a task of collating photos retrieved from the sim and memory cards.
Upon analysing Mncube’s confiscated phone, he found several incriminating photos.
Among them were images of a man with dreadlocks, taxis, and what seemed to be banknotes in a plastic bag, taken on August 16 2014.
However, the most chilling image that raised eyebrows was a photograph captioned “my killing machine”, which showed a 9mm pistol.
Another unsettling discovery was an image showing a stash of R50, R100, and R200 banknotes scattered on the floor and the captioned: “Ngiyofa nini ngikhohlwe [when will I die in order for me to forget].”
Data analyst Colonel Gideon Gouws was not be available for cross-examination in the murder trial of Meyiwa on Friday.
Consequently, his testimony has been postponed until Monday, with another witness slated to take the stand.
A defence lawyer in the trial argued on Thursday that the suspected gunman, Mncube, was not in Vosloorus when the soccer star was gunned down in October 2014.
Thulani Mngomezulu, representing Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, claimed that at the hour of Meyiwa’s murder, Mncube’s phone was pinging in locations outside Vosloorus.
Mngomezulu made the submissions as he continued to cross-examination Gouws on Thursday.
However the State is adamant that Mncube did contact the Asine hitmaker as she used multiple cellphone numbers at the time.
Last week, during the cross-examination led by the legal representative of accused four, Mthokoziseni Maphisa, advocate Zithulele Nxumalo, Gouws disclosed that Maphisa contacted accused one, Sibiya, on 14 occasions.
Furthermore, Gouws revealed that Maphisa contacted accused five Fisokuhle Ntuli on over 100 occasions. This also comprised of 125 direct calls and SMSs.
Additionally, accused four directly contacted accused three, Mthobisi Mncube, at least 20 times.
Five men are on trial for the murder of Meyiwa. The men are Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Ntanzi, Mthobisi Prince Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Fisokuhle Nkani Ntuli.
The men face charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, robbery with aggravated circumstances, possession of firearms without a licence, and possession of ammunition. All five pleaded not guilty.