“The first mistake was that you failed to explain the rights of the accused when you were conducting the pro forma interview. I want to remind you that we are here because of a life of a person who has been deprived his right to freedom. Then you also failed to record the time of departure from the station. You did not have the necessary skills, experience and proficiency to conduct a pointing out. You have made lot of mistakes,” he said.
Meanwhile, Adv Charles Mnisi said the manner in which Hadebe had conducted himself has proven that he was still budding in the field hence the statement and the evidence in chief have loopholes.
“I put it to you that it looks to me that you were at the fledging stages of your experience in regards to taking pointing out or confessions. I am going to sum it up and say the manner in which or the process you employed when interviewing the accused is indicative of the level of experience that you had at that time," he said.
Hadebe maintained that he was experienced at the time he had conducted the task and some of the things might have slipped away as he was annoyed because no officer at Alberton police station was willing to hand the accused to him.
The defence for accused five Adv Zandile Mshololo is expected to cross-examine Hadebe when the trial resumes on Wednesday.
'First mistake was you failed to explain rights of the accused'
Officer who collected evidence after Meyiwa killed criticised for being inexperienced
Image: Antonio Muchave
The defence for the five men accused of killing former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa in October 2014 have poked holes in the experience of a police officer who is a state witness in the trial.
The defence criticised Ltd-Col Nkosikhona Hadebe for his lack of experience and the manner he conducted the process of obtaining the pointing out evidence made by the accused one – Muzikawukhelelwa Sibiya – in June 2020.
In his testimony, Hadebe told the Pretoria high court that the evidence he took from Sibiya was his fourth in his 36 years of experience as member of the SAPS. He still maintained that he was experienced at the time he took the evidence.
Adv Thulani Mngomezulu, representing Sibiya, accused Hadebe of failing to follow proper procedure when conducting the pro forma evidence and said he failed to record the time that he and the accused moved from the Alberton police station to Kelly Khumalo’s home in Vosloorus where Meyiwa was shot in 2014.
Meyiwa accused’s lawyer argues rights were violated
“The first mistake was that you failed to explain the rights of the accused when you were conducting the pro forma interview. I want to remind you that we are here because of a life of a person who has been deprived his right to freedom. Then you also failed to record the time of departure from the station. You did not have the necessary skills, experience and proficiency to conduct a pointing out. You have made lot of mistakes,” he said.
Meanwhile, Adv Charles Mnisi said the manner in which Hadebe had conducted himself has proven that he was still budding in the field hence the statement and the evidence in chief have loopholes.
“I put it to you that it looks to me that you were at the fledging stages of your experience in regards to taking pointing out or confessions. I am going to sum it up and say the manner in which or the process you employed when interviewing the accused is indicative of the level of experience that you had at that time," he said.
Hadebe maintained that he was experienced at the time he had conducted the task and some of the things might have slipped away as he was annoyed because no officer at Alberton police station was willing to hand the accused to him.
The defence for accused five Adv Zandile Mshololo is expected to cross-examine Hadebe when the trial resumes on Wednesday.
Court rejects audio recording of alleged confession in Senzo Meyiwa murder trial
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