Overview
- In the Durban High Court the state’s ballistic witness said tests on 35 cartridge cases tied two spent cartridge cases found outside the Wish restaurant to a firearm the police say was recovered from accused number three, while a fatal bullet from Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane did not match that weapon.
- At the Cape Town inquest Lieutenant‑Colonel Jeremy Philander described life‑sized reconstruction tests that produced mixed results and said the physical evidence was inconsistent with a simple slip and could be consistent with a forceful push, though he stressed the experiments cannot conclusively determine push versus jump.
- Crime‑scene examiners told the inquest that the Pepperclub Hotel scene was contaminated by foot traffic, that only one footprint of Anele Tembe was found on the balcony edge, and that Tembe’s fingerprints were not recovered while Kiernan “AKA” Forbes’ prints were found inside the room.
- The split forensic findings narrow some investigative paths but leave key causal links unresolved because cartridge‑case matching ties a gun to some shots but not the fatal round and reconstruction outcomes depend on test conditions and do not assign responsibility.
- Courts expect more specialist witnesses on electronic, CCTV and forensic evidence as both processes continue into extended hearing blocks, a development that keeps families waiting for clearer answers and could affect how prosecutors link accused people to specific acts.