Durban — A Durban High Court judge has come down on the SAPS for its poor process in taking statements from witnesses.
The court has heard five versions of what unfolded in the Kharwastan home of murdered Jinsee Ram, who was strangled during a home robbery in 2020, where more than R80 000 was taken.
Ram’s daughter Sangetha Prithipaul had her head banged on the floor as she was subdued into showing one of the four assailants where the cash was kept in her parent’s home.
Bheki Msomi is on trial accused of murder, attempted murder and robbery with aggravated circumstances.
He had initially been charged with Simphiwe Cele, who was Ram’s employee. However, Cele was deemed unfit for trial and is at a state psychiatric hospital.
Mthethunzima “Stars” Mpepho, one of the assailants who entered Ram’s house with the intent to rob, is a State (section 204 ) witness.
For two days Mpepho has been under cross-examination by Msomi’s Legal Aid attorney, S Radebe, after leading his evidence-in-chief last week.
Two statements Mpepho made to police were handed in as exhibits, one that he made initially at the KwaNdengezi SAPS after his arrest in February 2020, and another taken at the Chatsworth SAPS in August that year.
Radebe drew the court’s attention to what he said were inconsistencies in these statements when they were compared against each other as well as Mpepho’s evidence-in-chief.
As counsel questioned the discrepancy, they asked what language he had made the statements in. Mpepho told the court he had made the one in February in Xhosa and the contents were then translated to him in Zulu.
He said the same had happened with the one he had made at the Chatsworth police station.
Judge Mohini Moodley noted that the statement made in February read “sworn under oath in English and translated into Zulu” while the one made in August read “sworn under oath in English”.
Mpepho did not understand English and spoke Xhosa. Moodley said the statements should have had a translation certificate accompanying them.
“This is just an example of how the SAPS does not record statements correctly … This is so unnecessary to deal with and it can be a total decant of justice,” she said.
Moodley said having translation certificates attached where needed was essential, especially with section 204 witnesses. This was important in cases to determine the weight of the evidence in a statement.
In his February statement, Mpepho said after fleeing Ram’s house he and Cele had caught up with each other in some bushes, and each took R10 000 of the stolen money when they had met with Msomi and Luvo Mtshezane (the other assailant, who has since died).
They again shared the money equally (R4 900 each). “In your evidence-in-chief, there’s no mention of you sharing the money first with Simphiwe in the bushes,” said Radebe.
Further in his evidence-in-chief, Mpepho said the plan initially had been to lie in wait in Ram’s garage, and when her husband opened the roller door in the morning to get his vehicle, this opportunity would be used to overpower him. However, at about 4am Msomi said the men should ditch that plan as it would not work.
“There’s no mention of Bheki changing the plan in the August statement,” said Radebe
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