Accused number three in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, Mthobisi Mncube, has accused lead investigating officer Brigadier Bongani Gininda of allegedly pressuring investigators and witnesses to alter their statements in an effort to implicate him and his co-accused.
Mncube made the allegations while testifying at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, where he is addressing claims surrounding his alleged involvement in the murder of former Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa, who was shot and killed in October 2014.
Mncube referred to earlier testimony by retired senior SAPS commander Vincent Leshabane, who told the court that he refused to change his police statement following a meeting with Gininda.
Leshabane previously testified that he believed altering his statement would amount to defeating the ends of justice and could ultimately result in his arrest.
Mncube argued that Leshabane’s testimony supported his claim that investigators had a motive to mislead the court.
“General Leshabane told the court that Zungu came to him crying, telling him that Gininda said he should make a false statement. All this is just clear that it’s a plot,” Mncube told the court.
He alleged that investigators wanted Leshabane to change his account and remove references to information allegedly linking other individuals to the murder.
Mncube further accused the investigating officers of deliberately providing false information to implicate the accused in the case.
“He is a liar, he lies unprovoked, he lies as though he went to school to learn how to lie,” Mncube said of one of the investigators.
Disputed descriptions of intruder
Mncube also challenged inconsistencies in witness accounts concerning the description of the person who allegedly entered the house on the night Meyiwa was killed.
He pointed to differences between descriptions involving the alleged intruder’s dreadlocks.
According to Mncube, one witness described a person with long, plaited dreadlocks reaching the back, while other witnesses reportedly described an individual with shorter dreadlocks reaching the neck.
Mncube argued that the descriptions were materially different and questioned why witnesses would fail to mention plaited dreadlocks if the alleged intruder had them.
He said these discrepancies supported his broader argument that the evidence presented against the accused had been manipulated.
The State’s allegations against Mncube and his co-accused remain contested, with Mncube denying involvement in Meyiwa’s killing.
Mncube is expected to continue his testimony when the trial resumes on Monday.