Accused number two in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, Bongani Ntanzi, has told the High Court in Pretoria that police repeatedly assaulted him in an attempt to force him to sign documents implicating himself in the killing of the former Bafana Bafana captain.
Ntanzi is on trial alongside four co-accused in connection with Meyiwa’s 2014 murder. All five men have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
While testifying in court, Ntanzi alleged that he was pressured to confess and was assaulted when he denied any involvement in the crime. He told the court that officers repeatedly asked whether he was prepared to “tell the truth” to a senior police officer, to which he responded that he knew nothing about the murder.
According to Ntanzi, the alleged assaults stopped only when he agreed to sign documents presented to him.
“When the assault stopped, my lord, it was when I was asked to sign,” Ntanzi testified. “I then signed where I was being told to sign. There was a plus sign, and I was provided with a pen to sign.”
The trial continues as the court hears further testimony regarding the circumstances under which the confession statements were obtained.