State and defence agree on cross-examination of Ntanzi's confession in Meyiwa case

Prosecutors dispute torture claims while both sides waive written arguments on admissibility of alleged 2020 statements.

The state and defence in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial have agreed that accused Bongani Ntanzi can be cross-examined on confession statements he allegedly made following his June 2020 arrest, with both parties waiving the submission of written arguments on admissibility.¹ Ntanzi and four co-accused are on trial in the High Court in Pretoria for the October 2014 killing of the former Bafana Bafana captain.¹

State prosecutor George Baloyi said the unusual alignment between parties meant written arguments were unnecessary, as the defence conceded the state's entitlement to cross-examine Ntanzi on the confession.¹ Ntanzi maintains he was tortured and suffocated with a plastic bag before being forced to sign documents he did not understand.²³

The state has accused Ntanzi of fabricating his assault claims, using vehicle tracking data to challenge his version of events.² "We therefore put it to you that this incident you say happened near the staircases is merely a fabrication," Baloyi said during cross-examination.²

Ntanzi defended his account, citing vehicle movement records as proof. "My lord, had this vehicle movement not been requested, I would have been seen as someone lying, because Sergeant Mogane denied that we went to the garage and that he saw Jonathan," he said.² He disputed state claims that one vehicle spent time near an Alberton garage due to mechanical problems, insisting the time was spent torturing him.²

Ntanzi was expected to return to the stand on Tuesday morning.² The trial continues amid separate proceedings in the Eastern Cape, where three of six accused in the September 2024 Lusikisiki massacre have made similar allegations of police brutality in a parallel trial-within-a-trial.³