Friday will most likely bring to an end the gruelling cross-examination of Lt-Col Moses Mushwana, who responded to the scene following the first shootings at Lonmin’s platinum mine in Marikana in August 2012.
Image: Seri-sa.org.za
Mushwana has spent the last four days having his evidence gathering techniques critiqued by lawyers defending six police officers charged for murders and injuries that occurred on August 13 2012, three days ahead of what became known as the Marikana Massacre when 34 mineworkers were shot dead by police.
Those who died on August 13 2012 included Warrant Officer Hendrick Tsietsi Monene and Sello Leepaku, who were allegedly hacked and shot dead by the striking mineworkers. Three mineworkers – Semi Jokansi, Thembalakhe Mati and Pumzile Sokhanyile – were also killed that day.
Coming under the spotlight this week was Mushwana’s sketch plan of the scene where Sokhanyile had been found dead and the pictures he had taken.
According to records by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of SA (Seri), Sokhanyile was shot dead by a single bullet at the back of his head. During the Farlam Commission of Inquiry into the killings, it was revealed he was allegedly fleeing from the police when he was shot. He was believed to have been shot at close range.
Pictures Mushwana had taken at the scene and his methods of measuring and knowing where to place cones which symbolised integral points for investigators were scrutinised.
While Mushwana has so far been able to mostly hold his own, there were times when the cross-examination pointed out where he may have slacked off in evidence collection.
This included his failure to bring a metal detector to the scene to help him collect all the bullet cartridges at the scene where Sokhanyile was found shot on that day. This led to him missing or overlooking some shell casings which he only recovered when he returned to the scene on October 9 2012.
He was also criticised for only returning to the scene to reconstruct it for investigators on October 9, weeks after the shooting.
Asked what was the reason for this, he answered: “I wanted to construct a photo album for the investigator, and because on the day of the incident [ August 13 2012] I didn’t have cones, I wanted to place cones there for the reconstruction,” he told the court.
When he returned to the scene in October, he found three more cartridges.
