A police officer who went to the scene where Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa was gunned down testified that no fingerprints were found on the door that the alleged intruders used to gain access.
Lieutenant Colonel Thobeka Mhlahlo was under cross-examination in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday.
She also testified that she was the one who discovered the much-discussed bullet projectile lying on the kitchen counter, behind the glass jars.
Mhlalo said when collecting evidence, she collected finger prints on other surfaces in the house, but there were no fingerprints found on the kitchen door.
It is alleged that the two intruders used the kitchen door when they entered the house.
Advocate Zandile Mshololo, who represents one of the five men accused of gunning down Meyiwa, asked Mhlahlo whether she took pictures of the street or the park where the alleged intruders ran.
Mhlahlo said she didn’t consider those areas a crime scene and didn’t take pictures; she only focused on the house.
Adopting the same line of questioning as the previous lawyers, Mshololo asked Mhlahlo about the wood fragments that were found next to the bullet.
She asked how she knew that the wooden pieces were from the door if she didn’t perform any tests to make a comparison.
"In the police, we don’t have a unit that tests or examines pieces of wood," replied Mhlahlo.
Mshololo put it to Mhlahlo: "You are not a specialist, and you cannot tell this court that that piece belongs to the door."
"I agree I am not a specialist, but to any person, that piece is obviously from the door... A door is damaged, and here is a piece of wood; it's exactly the same,’’ said Mhlahlo.
Mshololo insisted that Mhlahlo was not qualified to make that conclusion.
After Mhlahlo was done with her testimony, Colonel Sikheto Ngomana, whose responsibility was to keep registers at Vosloorus police station, went through a register that was submitted by Warrant Officer Thabo Mosia.
Mosia was the first officer to arrive at the Meyiwa murder scene.
Ngomana went through Mosia’s records captured on the day of the murder and the next day when he went to the scene.
A few contradictions appeared regarding the times Mosia provided when testifying and those recorded on his pocketbook.
However, Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng said Ngomana can’t be cross-examined on evidence that was not captured by him.
He said the defence will have to call Mosia if they want to question him about his pocketbook.
Meyiwa was killed while visiting his singer girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo, at her home in Vosloorus on October 26, 2014.
Mosai testified that he did not perform a gun residue test on any of the people who were in the house, this includes Kelly Khumalo and her younger sister, Zandile, their mother, Ntombi Khumalo (MaKhumalo), Longwe Twala, Meyiwa's friends, Mthokozisi Thwala and Tumelo Madlala, Kelly's then four-year-old son, Christian, and Thingo, her daughter with Meyiwa.
The five accused in the Meyiwa murder trial are Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthobisi Mncube, Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa, and Fisokuhle Nkani Ntuli.
The trial continues on Thursday with a new witness.
IOL