The second man accused of killing former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa, told the court that he was assaulted and verbally abused by police on the day of his arrest as they were forcing him to confess to the crime.
Bongani Ntanzi took the witness stand on Thursday to give his version of events when he was arrested on June 16, 2020.
The court is currently in a trial-within-a-trial to determine the admissibility of Ntanzi’s confession statement, which the State says he made on June 24, 2020.
On Thursday, Ntanzi told the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria that on the day of his arrest, he was with his girlfriend where he was renting in Phokeng, North West.
According to his testimony, when police arrived at his place, they referred to him as “Siyanda” and he told them it was not his name and they asked to see his ID.
He further said one of the officers, Sergeant Mabena, took out a phone and made a call.
“My phone rang and he told me to get dressed because they were looking for me,” Ntanzi said.
Ntanzi said he was confused as nothing was explained to him.
“Because I was asking a lot of questions, Mabena told me to stop asking crap and slapped me on the face while Mogane handcuffed me.”
He said he was then taken to Pretoria North police station where he claims he endured three hours of interrogation and torture.
Previously, the court heard from police that Ntanzi lied about his whereabouts regarding the day Meyiwa was gunned down.
Police said Ntanzi told them that he was working on that day and when they confronted him with evidence from his work place which showed that he was off, he changed his tune and said he had travelled to his home in Nongoma, KwaZulu-Natal.
However, Ntanzi disputed the statement and said they misunderstood him.
“I told them that I’m never in one place, its either I’m at work, or I’m at Phokeng where I was renting, and sometimes I go home in Nongoma. I gave them that answer because I wasn’t sure where I was on the day of the murder,” he said.
According to the lead investigator Brigadier Bongani Gininda, Ntanzi confessed through his own volition.
He said he confessed after he was shown a photo in an identikit resembling him and as his alibi couldn’t be verified.
Ntanzi denied these claims.
“Its not true, I never confessed to anything. I saw the identikit for the first time here in court,” he said.
Last week, the State brought a dentist who examined Ntanzi after his arrest, Dr Thabang Hlokwa testified that there was no signs of assault or that cosmetic work was ever done on his teeth.
Police had taken Ntanzi to the dentist in the Tlhabane Community Health Centre, North West, to determine whether he had a gold tooth which he might have removed.
Hlokwa said there were no signs that he ever had a gold tooth.
One of the descriptions given by the people who were with Meyiwa when he was shot dead was that one of the intruders who allegedly matched Ntanzi’s description had a gold tooth.
Ntanzi will continue with his testimony on Friday.
IOL