The commander in charge of the patrol operation on the day Mthokozisi Ntumba was killed, allegedly by the police, has been accused of not taking the case seriously as he told the court that he did not bring his police diary of the day of the shooting incident to court.

Capt Mkhanyiseli Shange was testifying in the high court in Johannesburg on Monday in the trial against four police officers accused of shooting Ntumba. 

Shange sprang a huge surprise on everyone in court when he revealed, under cross examination, that he had resigned from the police.

Before the shock revelation, Shange had told the court that police officers from the rank of constable to warrant officer must each carry a police pocket book when they are on ground on duty.

This is where they record what they have done on the day and what happened while responding to a crime.

Shange also said officers from the rank of captain upwards carry a police diary where they capture what they did on the day.

Shange, attached to the public order policing unit in Diepkloof, Soweto, was one of the commanders in charge of the patrol operation on March 10 when Ntumba was shot during a student protest over historic debt and non-registration.

The two commanders also had to control the students and give instructions to the officers on the ground.

Thomas Mohope, lawyer for accused 1, Tshepiso Kekana, 27, asked Shange to see his police diary for the day in question.

Shange said he did not bring it with him to court.

“I am no longer in the service of the police. I cannot be seen to be carrying police documents when I am no longer in the service,” said Shange.

Mohope responded: “You said you carry your police diary every time you are on duty. And you never told this court that you are no longer a police officer. When you testified in your evidence in chief you gave this court the impression that you are still a police officer. If I did not ask you about the diary, you were not going to tell us that you are no longer a cop.”

To which Shange said: “I was told to come and testify about what I know about the shooting incident when I was still in the service of the police.”

Mohope disagreed with his reasoning.

“The reason I asked about your diary is because I want to see what is in there about the day of the shooting. Your diary is a cornerstone of your evidence. You could have requested it from your previous employer. If you took this case seriously you should have brought that diary,” said Mohope.

“I cannot say that I am at fault because I was giving testimony about while I was still a cop,” Shange, who had been a police officer for 35 years, replied.

He apparently resigned last month, according to the prosecutor, advocate Evelyn Moseki.

Last month during the trial, an Independent Police Investigative Directorate investigating officer said that accused 1 to 3 (Kekana, Cidraas Motseothatha, 43, and Madimetja Legodi, 37) did not capture the incident in their pocket books which are used to record everything that happened while responding to a crime.  

Officers Kekana, Motseothatha, Legodi, and Victor Mohammed, 51, face charges of murder and three counts of attempted murder and have pleaded not guilty.

The trial continues.