Johannesburg - Constable Musa Keswa identified Owen Serero as the man whose ID was found in a white BMW M5.
On Thursday, Keswa testified in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court against Serero.
Serero is facing four counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, two of motor vehicle theft, two of unlawful possession of firearms and one of unlawful possession of ammunition.
Serero is also linked to the Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir’s case in which he is accused, along with six others, of plotting to kill investigators Colonel Nkosana “Killer” Ximba and forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan.
Keswa said he was on duty with another officer when they were called to a house in Riverlea to look for a stolen generator.
Once at the house, the officers found a white BMW in the yard and saw a man jump over the wall.
Keswa gave chase and found the man.
The officers then checked whether the car was stolen and found out that it had been stolen in Linden in January.
“I became suspicious and took the paper I saw the man throw away while he was running away. Inside the paper was the key to the car,” said Keswa.
He told the court that he found an ID that belonged to Serero when he searched the car.
“I asked him why his ID was in the car and he could not answer the question. We then arrested him for possession of a stolen motor vehicle,” said Keswa.
During cross-examination, Serero’s lawyer Tshega Ntake told the court that Serero’s ID was in the car because he had borrowed money from a loan shark and the loan shark had taken his ID as leverage.
Ntake also told the court Serero had jumped over the wall because he was afraid the loan shark had called the police on him.
The registration number found on the car did not match the vehicle identification numbers.
Ntake told Keswa that finding Serero’s ID in the car did not mean Serero was driving the stolen BMW.
Fingerprints expert Sarel Niemand also gave evidence against Serero, telling the court that he had compared the fingerprints found on the steering wheel of a stolen Ford Focus to those of Serero’s and had found a match. “No two persons’ palm and fingerprints (are) identical,” he said.
Ntake told the court that Serero had owned a car wash in Kagiso and had once washed the Ford, which explained why his fingerprints were found on the steering wheel.
“If it’s a car wash, it (fingerprints) should have been washed off,” said Niemand.
The trial was adjourned to September 22 for more witnesses to take the stand.
The Star