News / Africa
Witness' statement dated two weeks before murder
03 Jun 2011 at 13:09hrs | Views
The murder trial of former South African, Bafana Bafana player Bryce Moon started in the Randburg Magistrate's Court on Friday with a trial-within-a-trial to establish the authenticity of a witness statement.
The statement was made by Thandi Sibanda, who witnessed an accident in which her cousin Mavis Ncube died in Sandhurst in 2009.
The statement was dated June 14, but the accident happened on June 29.
The cousins were walking to their nearby workplace when Moon's Mercedes-Benz failed to negotiate a bend and allegedly hit Ncube. She died later in hospital.
Moon had been returning home from a party with his then Bafana
Bafana team mates.
Sibanda said she did not remember the details of the June 14
2009 statement.
The investigating officer Captain Tshililo Khalushi who took the statement was called to the stand to establish its validity and to clarify the date.
He said the incorrect date could be attributed to a "filing error".
Magistrate Vince Pienaar ruled that the statement was legitimate and the trial continued.
Moon's counsel Naren Sangham contended that there were serious contradiction between this statement, a second statement made by Sibanda and her testimony in court.
In Sibanda's initial statement she said she saw three occupants get out of the vehicle and in a second statement she said she saw a man sitting behind the steering wheel of the car.
However, in her testimony, she told the court she did not see anyone get out of the vehicle, that she had been "confused and in pain" and that she did not remember.
"I suggest to you that you don't know who the driver is," said Sangham.
On Thursday, Sibanda had pointed to Moon to identify him as the driver of the vehicle.
The statement was made by Thandi Sibanda, who witnessed an accident in which her cousin Mavis Ncube died in Sandhurst in 2009.
The statement was dated June 14, but the accident happened on June 29.
The cousins were walking to their nearby workplace when Moon's Mercedes-Benz failed to negotiate a bend and allegedly hit Ncube. She died later in hospital.
Moon had been returning home from a party with his then Bafana
Bafana team mates.
Sibanda said she did not remember the details of the June 14
2009 statement.
The investigating officer Captain Tshililo Khalushi who took the statement was called to the stand to establish its validity and to clarify the date.
He said the incorrect date could be attributed to a "filing error".
Magistrate Vince Pienaar ruled that the statement was legitimate and the trial continued.
Moon's counsel Naren Sangham contended that there were serious contradiction between this statement, a second statement made by Sibanda and her testimony in court.
In Sibanda's initial statement she said she saw three occupants get out of the vehicle and in a second statement she said she saw a man sitting behind the steering wheel of the car.
However, in her testimony, she told the court she did not see anyone get out of the vehicle, that she had been "confused and in pain" and that she did not remember.
"I suggest to you that you don't know who the driver is," said Sangham.
On Thursday, Sibanda had pointed to Moon to identify him as the driver of the vehicle.
Source - Sapa
