State witness, Colonel Lambertus Steyn said he was certain that the person depicted in photographs with dreadlocks was accused number three who was appearing in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria for the murder of Senzo Meyiwa.
Steyn was under cross-examination on Monday and remained adamant that Mthobisi Prince Mncube sported dreadlocks just moments before the soccer star was gunned down in Vosloorus.
Cellphone images which were downloaded by the police upon Mncube’s arrest in an unrelated firearm case, showed that he had dreadlocks a day before and on the day of Meyiwa’s murder.
Mncube’s legal representative, advocate Charles Mnisi asked Steyn whether he was certain that accused number three was the man depicted in the pictures.
“That’s correct my lord ... I'm certain, my lord,” Steyn said.
Mnisi asked Steyn to explain Mncube’s skin complexion.
“I didn’t mention his skin complexion ... don’t try to put words in my mouth,” Steyn retorted.
Mnisi explained that the question was based on the fact that Steyn had already explained certain features about Mncube and asked why it was difficult to mention his complexion.
Steyn said complexions can change based on the environment the person is exposed to.
“The accused is now in custody. He's not exposed to the sun, so he might be lighter than what he used to be,” Steyn explained.
“So are you a skin expert?” Mnisi asked.
State prosecutor advocate George Baloyi objected to Mnisi’s line of questioning and said the witness can’t be asked about subjects not part of his field.
Police arrested Mncube at the Cleveland police station under CAS 96/2/2015, for being in possession of an unlicensed firearm.
He said this arrest led to police submitting a firearm and Mncube’s cellphone, to SAP13, a process which allows the police to book the firearm and the device for further analysis.
Steyn said the investigating officer in CAS 96/2/2015 applied for a Section 205, which allows police to obtain cellphone records from a telecommunications service provider through a subpoena or court order and obtained it, but only accessed information up until November 1, 2014.
Steyn said the investigating officer in CAS 96/2/2015 was not aware there was a link to the Meyiwa murder case.
Steyn told the court that he had started working on the Meyiwa murder case in April 2020, when the investigating officer Brigadier Bongani Gininda handed him cellphone downloads and a Section 205.
He said that they had discovered several pictures which showed Mncube sporting dreadlocks just a day before Meyiwa’s murder. In one of the pictures, he had apparently tied his dreadlocks in a ponytail.
He also told the court that they had found pictures taken a day before the murder. These pictures showed that Mncube had been wearing the same beige coloured clothes, which he was alleged to have been wearing on the day of the murder.
The pictures, according to cellphone data, showed that the picture was taken at 11.51 am a day before Meyiwa was murdered.
Meyiwa was gunned down at her girlfriend Kelly Khumalo’s Vosloorus home in a suspected robbery, on October 26, 2014.
Five men, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthobisi Prince Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Sifisokuhle Ntuli, have been charged with the October 2014 murder of Meyiwa in what was reported as a botched robbery.
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