By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Sergeant Mandla Masondo, the 10th state witness in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, told the Pretoria High Court on Monday that he had found an unlicensed 9mm pistol and ammunition in the house of accused number three, Mthobisi Mncube.
Two digital forensic experts were called to testify about the chain of evidence during the Meyiwa murder trial last week.
The five people on trial — Mncube, Bongani Ntanzi, Mthokozisi Maphisa, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya and Fisokuhle Ntuli — have pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and the illegal possession of ammunition.
Masondo has over 20 years of experience in the South African Police Service and is attached to the organised crime unit specialising in taxi violence.
During cross-examination, he said he had been investigating a taxi-related murder case in Alexandra and had traced Mncube to the Johannesburg suburb of Cleveland.
Masondo said he and two of his colleagues had followed Mncube to where he lived and searched his room. The police officers found a firearm on top of the wardrobe. Masondo said the gun’s magazine was fully loaded with 15 rounds of live ammunition, while one round was in the chamber.
He had told Mncube that he was going to charge him with the unlawful possession of a firearm because he could not produce a licence for the gun.
Responding to questions posed by Advocate Charles Mnisi, who represents Mncube, Masondo admitted that no fingerprint tests were done on other items found in Mncube’s room.
“Did you investigate this firearm for possible fingerprints? Did you investigate the blue container? Did you investigate the magazine for any possible fingerprints?” questioned Mnisi.
“No,” responded Masondo.
Mncube was arrested in February 2015, not for the murder of the former Bafana Bafana captain, but for a different case in Alexandra.
Masondo said Mncube’s Samsung GTE 2220 phone was also confiscated and booked in for a download request to check whether the accused could be linked to the Alexandra taxi murder case and to find out if he had an accomplice.
The cellphone confiscated from Mncube is the same device on which police data analyst Sergeant Moses Mabasa had found photographs of multiple guns, including one titled “My killing machine”.
The Meyiwa murder trial is now in its fifth week after it had to start again from scratch on 17 July. The trial continues on Tuesday.
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Video Courtesy of ENCA.