By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Since the state’s first witness, Sergeant Thabo Mosia, has been subjected to cross-examination, advocate Zandile Mshololo, who is representing one of the five men accused of murdering Meyiwa, has pushed the forensic field worker to concede that crucial investigations were not done.
On Friday, Mosia, who was the first forensic expert to arrive on the crime scene, admitted that gunshot residue tests were not done on the people who were present in the Vosloorus house when Meyiwa was shot on 26 October 2014.
These tests detect the presence of chemical compounds that would be deposited on a person’s skin or clothes when a firearm is discharged.
Mshololo pointed out to Mosia that his failure to perform those tests meant the investigation was unable to conclusively rule out if any of those in the house were involved in the shooting.
She pushed Mosia for a reason as to why he did not perform such a crucial test for the investigation.
Mosia responded by explaining that he was controlled by the first officer on the scene, but that he did not do his job in this instance.
On Monday, Mshololo continued to question Mosia about what investigations had not taken place.
Mshololo asked Mosia whether he had done DNA tests on the vehicle that was used to transport Meyiwa after being shot. She said there was testimony that Meyiwa was bleeding at the time.
Mosia had previously testified that Meyiwa was rushed to a nearby hospital by people who were in the house, after he was shot.
This information was relayed to Mosia by other police officers at the crime scene as Mosia only arrived four hours after the incident, according to his testimony.
Mosia said he had not conducted any tests in the vehicle, nor did he attempt to inspect the vehicle.
She then asked whether police had tracked where the vehicle travelled with the injured Meyiwa as a passenger.
Mosia could not answer this question and explained that his duty was to process the crime scene.
The trial is expected to continue on Tuesday.