Mngeni willing to point out crime scene
2012-09-18 21:07
Cape Town - A man on trial for Anni Dewani's murder was willing to "point out" where the crime was allegedly committed, the Western Cape High Court heard on Tuesday.
Xolile Mngeni, 25, told Captain Clive Joseph Ontong, in a video shown in court, that he had not been assaulted or threatened into showing officers anything.
"I don't have a problem. I can go show this place," he was seen telling Ontong through a translator on 17 November 2010.
Mngeni said in the video that even though someone had told him that morning he should go ahead with it, he was doing it of his own free will.
"It comes out of myself. I've decided to do so."
Ontong asked whether he was going to show things he had personally experienced, or if it was something he had heard of or been told to say.
Mngeni replied: "I saw it".
Pleaded not guilty
Dewani was killed in Gugulethu on 13 November 2010, in an apparent hijacking while on honeymoon with her husband Shrien.
Mngeni has pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder, and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.
The court is hearing a trial-within-a-trial to determine whether a "confession" by Mngeni after his arrest on 16 November that year could be admitted as evidence.
The defence intended to object to the pointing out on the basis it followed the "severe assault and torture" of Mngeni the previous day.
It would also claim the statement and pointing out were a result of lengthy interrogation and being told what to say by police officers.
Ontong, who had been in the police service for 18 years, testified that he was called by Lieutenant Colonel Mike Barkhuizen on 17 November that year to assist with the pointing out.
He was not given details on the case.
He sat with Mngeni at the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation building in Bellville and made sure he understood his rights before proceeding.
The court would likely see the actual "pointing out" on Wednesday, when the trial continued.
- SAPA
