By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
A dentist has refuted allegations of exceeding the permissible examination limits while assessing one of the five men accused of killing former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa.
Dentist Dr Thabang Hlokwe was the last state witness on Friday in the trial-within-a-trial in the Pretoria high court which aims to determine the admissibility of confessions allegedly made by Bongani Ntanzi and co-accused Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya.
Both the accused claimed that they were assaulted, tortured and electrocuted by police officers to confess to Meyiwa’s murder.
Eyewitnesses at the Meyiwa murder scene said one intruder had a gold tooth.
Hlokwe examined Ntanzi in June 2020 in Tlhabane, North West. He said on that day, Ntanzi, who was handcuffed, was escorted by a police officer and a prison warden.
Hlokwe added it was rare to encounter prisoners in the district.
The police officer who brought Ntanzi said he had come for an oral examination and should be checked for a gold tooth.
Hlokwe said Ntanzi appeared normal and had no abnormalities. He said Ntanzi’s blood pressure was normal and the examination of his skull and mouth seemed normal, showing no sign of trauma.
The examination, from the waist up, included inspection of Ntanzi’s head, oral cavity, face, nose and neck.
He highlighted that there was no signs that the accused ever had a gold tooth.
Prosecutor George Baloyi told Hlokwe, Ntanzi claimed to have been electrocuted, tubed and assaulted a few days before the examination.
“From what I could see on the surface, I couldn’t see any sign of electrocution, unless it was underneath clothing,” Hlokwe replied. “There were no marks that he was choked and on the face, there were no lacerations. It was a normal person who was not in a severe altercation.”
Ntanzi also did not say he was assaulted.
Hlokwe said while Ntanzi conversed with an assistant in isiZulu, who was translating, he only appeared worried, rather than a person in pain.
Advocate, Thulani Mngomezulu cross-examined Hlokwe, argued that the dentist exceeded the scope in his examination.
But the witness disagreed and also pointed out that Ntanzi consented to his examination and signed a form for such.
“I never went above and beyond to write anything that was not within this file,” Hlokwe said.
“You are not a pulmonologist,” Mngomezulu stated.
The dentist, in his response, argued that medical students were required to know the basic facts of the body.
Ntanzi has already been pointed out by at least two witnesses as one of the armed intruders who entered the Khumalo household in Vosloorus on 26 October 2014.
The suspect and his co-accused have pleaded not guilty to the former Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper’s killing.
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