WATCH | Court rules against showing footage of Joe Sibanyoni’s ‘attempted assassination’

Johannesburg high court judge Cassim Moosa has ruled in favour of “Cat” Matlala’s lawyeragainst the state’s request to show CCTV footage that allegedly captured the events of August 10 2022, when taxi boss Joe Sibanyoni was caught in an attempted assassination.

The ruling came after the state’s first witness, security guard Bethuel Mzamo Cele, completed part of his testimony detailing the dramatic shootout at the Centurion Country Club, where Sibanyoni allegedly came under attack from gunmen armed with AK-47 rifles.

Matlala, his wife Tsakane Matlala, Musa Kekana, Tiego Floyd Mabusela and Nthabiseng Nzama are facing 25 charges that include the attempted murder of actor Tebogo Thobejane and Sibanyoni.

State prosecutor Elize le Roux sought to play the CCTV footage after establishing that Cele had viewed it since the incident.

“You have since viewed the video footage. Is what you saw on the footage the same as what you have told this court?” Le Roux asked.

“Yes, it is exactly the same,” Cele replied.

However, before the footage could be played, advocate Annelene van den Heever objected.

This objection was supported by Kekana’s lawyer Rein Gisseg.

Van den Heever argued that the footage had not yet been properly authenticated. .

“It cannot simply be shown to the witness before its authenticity has been established. The witness cannot corroborate the origin or authenticity of this footage,” she said.

“If the state proceeds in this manner, it will trigger a trial within a trial.”

She submitted that allowing the footage to be shown at this stage could trigger a trial-within-a-trial to determine its admissibility and authenticity, potentially requiring expert evidence regarding its origin and chain of custody.

“We would then have to call an expert witness to deal with the origin and authenticity of the footage before it can be relied upon. The admissibility of the video must first be determined before it is shown to this witness.

“The court cannot simply assume this is the footage of the incident without the proper evidentiary foundation being laid,” she said.

However, Le Roux said the witness was not being asked to authenticate the footage.

“He is merely being asked whether what appears on the video is consistent with what he personally observed. The authenticity of the footage can be dealt with at a later stage through the appropriate witness,” she said.

After hearing arguments from both sides, Moosa upheld the objection, ruling that the footage would not be shown before the necessary legal foundation had been laid.

Earlier, Cele testified that he had been stationed at the entrance to the Centurion Country Club when a red Ferrari and a white Volkswagen Golf 7 arrived shortly before the shooting.

He told the court that a white BMW then approached slowly before stopping near the vehicles.

“The BMW stopped for about three seconds before the shooting started. That’s when we ran for cover. I struck the BMW. I hit the mirror, the windows and the doors,” he said.

“I could see one of them had been injured. He ran back to the BMW through the window while I continued firing.”

During cross-examination by the state, Cele was asked about his state of mind after the shooting, prompting an objection from Van den Heever, who argued that the line of questioning was irrelevant.

Le Roux countered that the evidence was relevant because fear for one’s life formed part of the attempted murder allegations.

Moosa dismissed the objection, allowing the questioning to continue.

“At the time, I did not really think about it. It was only the following day that it struck me that I could have been one of the people buried because of what happened that night,” he said.

The trial continues.

Sowetan