OMPHITLHETSE MOOKI
A POLICE officer has admitted she did not fully understand the notice of rights that she read to the two farmworkers accused of killing right-winger Eugene Terre’Blanche.
Another cop, a senior officer tasked with investigating the case, told the Ventersdorp Regional Court yesterday that he had no knowledge of the Child Justice Act when a teenager accused in the case had made “utterances” about the murder to him.
The first to take the witness stand to testify for the State was Constable Kedibone Mokwele.
The defence labelled her “pathetic” for admitting that she had not fully comprehended the notice of rights she had read out to the two farmworkers accused of murdering Terre’Blanche.
The court was told that when Chris Mahlangu and his teenage co-accused arrived at the Ventersdorp police station in April 2010, Mokwele had first read the notice of their rights in English, then interpreted it in Setswana.
But yesterday, when asked to read out “you are not compelled to make a confession”, Mokwele, read out “you are now complete to make a confession”.
Mahlangu’s counsel, advocate Khomotso Tlouana, said: “Madam, you are pathetic. How do you explain rights to a person when you don’t understand it?…
You never read the accused his rights… Why are you misleading the court?”
“It was a mistake,” said Mokwele.
“Failure to distinguish between an admission and confession is also a mistake,” said Tlouana.
In a confession, the farmworkers would have indicated that they had killed the AWB leader. With an admission, they would have indicated that he had been killed.
The trial continues.