Overview
- Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng ruled on 10 November that prosecutors may not question Muzi Sibiya using a statement by co-accused Bongani Ntanzi.
- The court found that relying on one accused’s statement against another risks infringing Section 9 equality protections and Section 35 fair-trial rights.
- Mokgoatlheng noted the court has not definitively classified the statements by Sibiya and Ntanzi as confessions because they are not unequivocal admissions of guilt.
- The statements were admitted as evidence in March 2024 after a prior ruling found they were made voluntarily despite defence claims of coercion.
- On 11 November, during continued cross-examination, Sibiya declined to identify people in photos extracted from Mthobisi Mncube’s phone, saying the device was not his.