From left: Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya and Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi. File Picture: Oupa Mokoena/Independent Newspapers
Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng is expected to rule on Thursday whether the alleged confession made by two of the five accused were admissible.
Judge Mokgoatlheng, who is presiding over the murder trial of former Bafana Bafana captain, Senzo Meyiwa, has been hearing arguments in a trial within a trial since last year.
Since last week, the State and the defence were submitting their final arguments at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria following a trial within a trial to determine the admissibility of the confession statements.
The trial within a trial has been running since October 2023 to determine the admissibility of the confessions allegedly made by Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi and Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya.
Ntanzi and Sibiya, claim they were severely assaulted by police and were forced to sign confession statements implicating themselves and others in the murder of the former Orlando Pirates goalkeeper.
They were both arrested in 2020 but on different dates and in different areas.
However, they gave the same version regarding how they were tortured and assaulted by officers who were investigating the Meyiwa murder.
They both had the same legal representatives who spent over three months trying to cast doubt on the evidence which was presented by the police regarding what transpired when they were arrested.
They were represented by advocate Sipho Ramosepele and advocate Thulani Mngomezulu.
However, when the matter resumed after two weeks of recess, Sibiya abandoned Ramosepele and stated that he will only be represented by Mngomezulu.
Five men — Ntanzi, Sibiya, Mthobisi Prince Mncube, Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa, and Fisokuhle Nkani Ntuli are standing trial for Meyiwa’s murder.
Meyiwa was killed on October 26, 2014, while visiting his singer girlfriend Kelly Khumalo at her home in Vosloorus.
Lead investigator Bongani Gininda, who also testified during the trial-within-a-trial, disputed claims that the two were assaulted and said they confessed through their own volition.
He added that their confessions matched the evidence they had.
Further more, their confessions implicated Khumalo in the murder of Meyiwa.
Police initially believed the Meyiwa murder was a robbery gone wrong, but Gininda said investigations later led them to believe the former captain of the national soccer team, was gunned down in a contract killing.
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