Gun in Meyiwa murder stolen from cash heist robbery: SBV

The gun that is believed to have been used in the murder of former Orlando Pirates goalkeeper, Senzo Meyiwa in 2014, was stolen from the SBV security company during a cash-in-transit robbery in 2013. 

The company’s Logistics Legislative Manager, Jakobus Smuts, who’s in charge of ensuring the business complies with the legislations and that lost and stolen firearms get reported to the police within the stipulated time, confirmed the company owned the firearm. 

Smuts says their guards were ambushed and disarmed at a shopping centre in Rabie Ridge in 2013, which was when the firearm was stolen. 

Two years later, on 9 February 2015, accused 3 Mthobisi Mncube was arrested and the gun was found on top of his wardrobe in his room in Malvern, Johannesburg. 

“It was stolen during the cash in transit robbery in 2013 in Rabie Ridge in May. And it was reported to the police. It was at a shopping centre in Rabie Ridge,” says Smuts.  

“The security guards carry guns to protect themselves and during this robbery the firearms were taken from them so that they could not defend themselves. Once the guards have been disarmed, they can’t protect themselves and that is how the money is then taken,” he adds.   

He says on that day, the guards were issued with, among others, the CZ 75 9 mm pistol and ammunition. 

“They are issued with ammunition that fits the firearm, which was Full Metal Jacket (FMJ). The firearm is capable of firing other 9 mm ammunition which may not necessarily be FMJ. It can fire a Complete or Copper Metal Jacket (CMJ) which is the same size as the FMJ.” 

The firearm was confiscated from accused 3, Mthobisi Mncube’s room in 2015, as the court has heard previously, together with a blue box full of all sort of ammunition.  

Last week, Ballistics Expert Christian Mangena confirmed that the bullet projectile that was found on the scene the following morning of Meyiwa’s murder was a CMJ bullet which matched the firearm in question. 

On Friday, Warrant Officer Cornelius Roelofse, the ballistic investigator in the taxi violence matter in 2015, confirmed that the CMJ projectile matched the ammunition that was found in accused 3’s room. 

 He also told the court that the bullet could not have been fired from a Revolver as the cartridge would not have fitted into such a gun, saying it made sense that it could have been fired from a CZ 75 9 mm pistol as testified by Mangena.   

Smuts says immediately after the firearm was stolen; it was reported to the police in Rabie Ridge. 

He says it was only seven years later that he was contacted by Sergeant Deon Mulaudzi in 2020 to come make an affidavit about the gun after the police had established the gun’s serial number which had been obliterated. 

 Smuts brought the original firearm license to court. 

Senzo Meyiwa Murder Trial | Update on this morning’s testimony: Sipho Kekana

Following a brief stint on the witness stand, Smuts walked off after concluding his testimony and a traditional healer, Lion Zwane took the stand. 

Zwane, who told the court that he could not recall the dates, told the court he remembers an incident where a gentleman he remembers as Sibiya approached him in the company of two other gentlemen for muthi. He says Sibiya, the only gentleman he interacted with, told him they need muthi to help them with work.  

He says he gave them a muthi called inhlanhl’emhlophe, loosely translated as white luck, and a few days later, he says the trio returned seeking to be cleansed because one of the people had sustained injuries.  

He says he cleansed them. 

Zwane could not point out any of the accused as the people who had come to him, telling the court that the Sibiya he is talking about was tall.  

“He was with two other people. They were three in total but the person I spoke to, was Sibiya. I cannot point out these other two. I only spoke to Sibiya and he came back to indicate that the job had been done. He said where they had gone to search for work, there’s someone who had sustained injuries there,” says Zwane. 

According to Zwane, the trio never returned to his premises following the cleansing ceremony and the following time he had anything to do with them was when he was ambushed by the police. 

“Then it was done and they never came back again. Then later on, the police arrived and pretended that they were there to consult. There were two police officers that came and after they left there was an entourage of police vehicles that came and I was called by a female police officer that shouted, ‘Mkhulu, mkhulu, mkhulu’ and they were hitting the gate and that police officer is here. I saw her here in court.” 

During a brief cross-examination by Advocate Zandile Mshololo, Zwane told the court he deals with a lot of people and could not remember the three people who had approached him looking for cleansing.   

The court adjourned as the state and the defence could not agree on the admission of DNA samples taken from the accused to compare with DNA samples taken from the scene.  

Warrant Officer, Thabo Mosia, who was the first forensic officer to arrive on the crime will be on the witness stand on Tuesday morning to testify on the time he left the crime scene in the wee hours of the 27th of October and the time he returned to the scene. 

Mosia previously told the court he left the scene just before 3am and returned around 6am before the projectile was found on top of the kitchen counter by Colonel Thobeka Mhlahlo. According Mosia, Mhlahlo found him on the scene that morning.  

However, his pocketbook, which was later admitted as evidence, revealed he had only returned to the scene at 10:25am, while Mhlahlo had arrived at 9:10am.