Bongani Ntanzi, accused two among the five accused in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, cannot use his employer as an alibi after records obtained from his access card showed he was not at work on the night the footballer was gunned down in Vosloorus.
A manager at the Sibanye Gold Mine where he worked, testified in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday that Ntanzi had applied for unpaid leave for five days on the Monday after Meyiwa was gunned down at his girlfriend Kelly Khumalo’s Vosloorus home.
Hendrik Mulder from Sibanye Gold presented the court with clock-in information for Ntanzi which was gathered through data from his access card, from October 24 to November 2, 2014.
Meyiwa was shot dead at the Khumalo homestead in Vosloorus on the Sunday night of October 26, 2014.
On October 24 and 25, Mulder said records from Ntanzi’s access card showed that Ntanzi was at work, as he clocked-in at various access points in the Carltonville facility.
On Saturday, October 25, Ntanzi was due to work a four-hour shift, but only worked two hours. The records showed that Ntanzi left work just after 6am on Saturday morning.
This was the last time Sibanye recorded his clock-in records that month. The next time Ntanzi clocked in was on November 2, 2014.
From October 26 to November 1, 2014, Mulder explained that there were no records of Ntanzi being on the premises.
Furthermore, Mulder said that Ntanzi applied for unpaid leave for five days, from October 27 to October 31, 2014, which was approved by the company.
“The last whereabouts we can confirm is on October 25, 2014. This was a clock-out at the access point in the hostel at 6.57am,” Mulder said.
The other four accused are Muzikawukhulelwa Sthemba Sibiya (1), Mthobisi Prince Mncube (3), Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa (4), and Fisokuhle Nkani Ntuli (5).
Earlier this week, forensic expert Captain Mmamshedi Masetla gave DNA evidence based on samples collected from the five accused and people in the house the night Meyiwa was killed.
Besides Meyiwa, that 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.
Masetla’s forensic DNA findings have placed Meyiwa, MaKhumalo, and Zandi Khumalo at the crime scene.
Zandile Khumalo’s DNA was matched on a Smirnoff can, while MaKhumalo’s DNA was found on a toilet door.
Meyiwa’s DNA was found on a Heineken beer can as well as on blood found in the crime scene.
Three of the accused, Maphisa, Ntuli, and Sibiya, could not be placed at the crime scene through DNA evidence.
By this evidence, the version of Tumelo Madlala and Zandile Khumalo about two intruders entering the house on the night of the murder was supported. Both Madlala and Zandile Khumalo identified Ntanzi as one of the two intruders.
In court on Tuesday, Masetla also found forensic DNA evidence which placed both Ntanzi and accused three, Mncube, at the murder scene.
Masetla told the court that out of 16 regions used during the DNA testing, Ntanzi was placed in 10 regions, while Mncube was placed in seven of the 16 regions.
The hat, which was reportedly found in the home, was used to gather DNA evidence as well, but Masetla said he could not conclusively confirm that any of the five accused wore the hat as there was no evidence.
Ntanzi’s bank records were also handed in by the State on Tuesday as part of the evidence.
The trial continues on Wednesday.
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