The case against four police officers facing charges of murdering Mthokozisi Ntumba has been postponed for two weeks to allow the state and legal representatives of the accused to exchange copies of the docket and the video footage.
The matter left a high court judge annoyed after the state and defence attorneys could not agree on evidence admitted ahead of the pretrial conference on Thursday in the high court in Johannesburg.
The evidence at the centre of the dispute between the lawyers include the postmortem, the identity of the deceased and the date of death and the video footage that captured Ntumba’s last moments alive after being shot.
Acting Judge William Karam warned both the state and four legal representatives appearing on behalf of the four cops to get their houses in order for the matter to proceed.
Tshephisho Kekana, 27, Cidraas Motseothatha, 43, Madimetja Legodi, 37, and Victor Muhammad, 51, appeared in the high court in Johannesburg each facing a single count of murder and three counts of attempted murder for Ntumba’s murder.
Prosecutor Adv Evelyn Moseki told the court that the state and the lawyers could not conclude their meeting on Wednesday, which was intended to serve as a platform for admissions to be made.
“The defence counsel has received copies of the docket and the meeting took place yesterday (Wednesday). The meeting was pre-planned but one of the legal representatives was absent and another arrived late,” said Moseki.
“We discussed the possible admissions, which included the video, but one of the lawyers objected. The video was sent to forensic to be authenticated but the investigating officer said the video is available and intact.” .
Moseki said they also experienced technical issues as the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA's) laptops do not allow for videos to be played on the staff’s laptops.
“The NPA laptops are sensitive and may reject the video. I was under the impression that we were going to make admissions (during the meeting). Therefore it was useless for us to continue with the meeting,” said Moseki.
Moseki also highlighted that two of the lawyers refused to make admissions until they saw the video. “I will have to make inquiries from the HR and IT departments so they can assist. I would also like to suggest for the matter to be moved to Palm Ridge magistrate's court which is well-equipped,” said Moseki.
She said the purpose of ensuring that the 45-minute long video is admitted during the pretrial conference is to avoid any objections about it during the course of the trial.
Karam said admissions will need to be concluded as soon as possible.
“The court’s job is to facilitate the readiness of this matter. I know nothing about this case. The court is duty-bound to expedite justice for society, victims, victims’ families, and the accused. The state is required to furnish the defence with all contents of the docket. I am directing you (Moseki) to provide each counsel with a copy of the docket and video footage,” said Karam.
Karam postponed the matter to November 10. “The court expects liaison between both parties to consult on admissions. The court expects that a formal and constructive pretrial will be held on the next date.”
The officers were granted bail of R8,000 each in March.
They were arrested a few days after Ntumba, a bystander, was shot dead in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, in March, allegedly by the accused while they were dispersing students who were protesting non-registration due to historical debt.
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