Meyiwa murder trial: Photographic evidence dominates proceedings
The State recalled a police officer to the stand to testify on the photos after Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng granted it its application.
Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng listens to testimony in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial on 20 July 2023.
PRETORIA - Photographic evidence has been led in the Senzo Meyiwa trial linking one of the alleged intruders with the description given by witnesses.
The State recalled a police officer to the stand to testify on the photos after Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng granted it its application.
The court is now dealing with the photos of the second accused, Bongani Ntanzi.
Ntanzi is one of five men who are standing trial for the Bafana Bafana captain’s 2014 murder.
From the very first picture that the State advocate Ronnie Sibanda showed to warrant officer Lawrence Ndlovu, it was clear that the facial description of Bongani Ntanzi was his focus.
Sibanda honed in on a feature that could be seen in almost all his pictures from 2019 and 2020.
“The person in the picture at the time that he took this picture he had an o-shaped beard.”
The o-shaped beard is how Meyiwa’s friend, Tumelo Madlala, described one of the alleged intruders.
But Ntanzi’s lawyer had previously denied that Ntanzi had such a beard, saying his beard could not even grow in that shape.
Ntanzi also wore a hoodie in almost all his pictures, an item that several witnesses, including Zandie Khumalo, recalled the intruder wore and one that Ntanzi regularly wears to court to this day.