By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The retired cellphone data analyst Colonel Lambertus Steyn was cross-examined once more in the Senzo Meyiwa trial at the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
Steyn has been recalled to the stand to try and give clarity on his evidence pertaining to calls made between Meyiwa’s then girlfriend Kelly Khumalo and accused number 5 Fisokuhle Ntuli prior to the murder.
The recall comes after Vodacom’s Pinky Vythilingam could not verify the two calls Steyn testified about.
Defence counsel Charles Mnisi took Steyn through the Vodacom data in comparison to the evidence provided by him.
While some parts of the PDF format supplied by Vodacom differ to the Excel spreadsheet by Steyn, Mnisi also drew Steyn’s attention to the fact that the times on the Excel format were not in chronological order.
Mnisi suggested that someone could have planted or edited the information.
“The reason why this document does not give a chronological sequence of events is because some information has been planted there. And the reason why that information was planted was simply to create a narrative that there was indeed a communication between a number ending 202 and the number ending 358.”
However, Steyn says he simply analysed information from downloads provided by another officer on the case.
“I can’t answer on that one. I have already indicated that they tried to delete information on that memory. Maybe that is why. I’m not an expert on the download side. I worked on information I received from Sergeant Mushwana when he did downloads. Sergeant Mushwana, that is what he got from the phone.”
Advocate Thulani Nxumalo, who represents accused 4 in the matter, also highlighted differences between the Vodacom PDF data and Excel documents.
Steyn is expected back on the stand on Friday morning.
Meyiwa was fatally shot while visiting Khumalo at her mother’s residence in Vosloorus, Gauteng.
Ntuli, Mkhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Ntanzi, Mthobisi Mncube and Mthokoziseni Maphisa are on trial for Meyiwa’s murder.
They face charges of murder, attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, possession of an unlicenced firearm, and possession of ammunition.