The Bhisho high court is yet to hear if fingerprints found by police on a licence disc of a car linked to some of the accused in the killing of Moneli Vesele, who was a bodyguard to the University of Fort Hare vice-chancellor, matches those of the accused.
A police forensic analyst who was testifying in the murder trial said she discovered fingerprints on one of the two exhibits she examined.
The officer, who cannot be named for safety reasons, was testifying in the high court on Monday in the case of eight accused of the murder of Vesele, who was gunned down in January 2023.
Zimele Chiliza, Mthobisi Khanyile, Nkosiyazi Maphumulo, Bafana Chiliza, Thamsanqa Mgwetyana, Lindokuhle Manjati, Phelisa Nkonyeni and Issac Plaatjies have pleaded not guilty to charges including the murder of Vesele, conspiracy to murder Vesele, possession of firearms, a semi-automatic rifle and .38 revolver and possession of ammunition.
Chiliza, Manjati, Nkonyeni and Plaatjies, a former UFH director of investigations and vetting, also pleaded not guilty to defeating the ends of justice.
It is alleged Chiliza, Manjati and Nkonyeni instructed or encouraged Mgwetyana to flee to evade arrest for Vesele’s murder.
It is further alleged that they paid him money to flee, evading arrest, and that Plaatjies instructed or encouraged Mgwetyana to destroy evidence on cellphones used in communication between some of the accused.
On Monday, the officer told the court she had been with the police force since 2012, working at the local criminal records centre.
On February 15 2023, she received two exhibits relating to the case: a vehicle licence disc and a disc holder on which was printed the word Jeep.
She took photos of the exhibits individually.
She used different chemicals to develop fingerprints on both exhibits as the surface of the two exhibits were different.
She explained if, upon applying the chemical used, the colour of the exhibit changed, that meant there were fingerprints.
This process indicated the presence of fingerprints on the blank side of the licence disc. There were no prints on the disc holder.
After a fingerprint had been developed it was captured, and the exhibit was then sealed in a container that included the original evidence bag it was in.
The negative exhibit was also sealed in a new bag.
She said the fingerprints were handed over for comparison, but she was not involved in this process.
Pressed by the defence attorney for Khanyile and Mgwetyana, whether she could tell if the fingerprints were old or fresh, she said she could determine that, but that was not “in my scope”.
In this case, she could not tell if the fingerprints were fresh or not.
She was grilled further about a mistake in her original statement which resulted in a second statement being made to correct it.
“I agree there was a mistake in the statement. I entered an incorrect year.
“I was called by a colleague and told of that. I don’t remember the exact time. The mistake was a typing error. I had mistakenly said ... February 2022 instead of February 2023.”
She agreed her statement was corrected. But the correctness of the statement did not affect the work she did at the laboratory in developing fingerprints on the exhibits.
She said the exhibit was handed over on February 24 for comparison.
The trial continues on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, former UFH employees Bongani Peter and Bongani Khuza, and former SRC member Sicelo Mbulawa will appear in the East London high court for trial from November 24 to December 5.
This comes after a separation of trials of the original 11 arrestees. Their case relates to the murder of UFH fleet manager Petrus Roets, who was also gunned down in 2023.
Daily Dispatch
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