One of the five men accused of murdering football star Senzo Meyiwa has disputed a medical report from a dentist which determined that he had no signs of assault and no cosmetic work was ever done on his teeth.
The report was compiled by Dr Thabang Hlokwa who was called by the State to testify in the trial-within-a-trial to determine the admissibility of confession statements signed by Bongani Ntanzi and Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya.
The two accused claim they were severely assaulted and were forced to sign confession statements implicating them in the murder of Meyiwa.
On Tuesday, Ntanzi, who was examined by Dr Hlokwa, testified that he wasn’t examined thoroughly and was never asked questions relating to his medical history.
Ntanzi revealed this during cross-examination by State advocate, Ronnie Sibanda.
He said Dr Hlokwa didn’t ask him any questions about his health, instead, he insisted that the consultation was very brief.
“I just went in and a lady told me to lie on the bed. The dentist came later, he told me to open my mouth, he checked whether I had a gold tooth and then I heard him telling his assistant that I never had a gold tooth.
“I was then released to go sit in the car because it was during Covid. After a while, this very same dentist came to the car and told me to sign some documents. He never explained and I also didn’t have a chance to read the documents,” he said.
Sibanda asked Ntanzi where Dr Hlokwa got answers to fill in the medical questionnaire.
“I don’t know, he never asked me any questions, our meeting was brief. He checked whether I had a gold tooth and that was it. I only signed the documents to confirm that I got checked for a gold tooth,” he said.
Sibanda then enquired from Ntanzi why Dr Hlokwa was using an interpreter to communicate with him if their meeting was that brief and never asked him questions.
“That lady didn’t even interpret that much, she told me to lie on the bed and then told me that we are done and to sign the papers,” he said.
Sibanda told Ntanzi that he was contradicting himself because initially, he claimed that documents were brought to him to sign while sitting in the car, and now he just said the the assistant told him to sign immediately after the examination was completed.
Before Ntanzi could reply, his legal representative, advocate Sipho Ramosepele made an objection and said Sibanda’s statement was unfair and it was open for interpretation.
Sibanda further put it to Ntanzi that his consultation with Dr Hlokwa was over 30-minutes-long because they had to go through the medical questionnaire, hence his girlfriend’s name was written on the documents as an emergency contact.
He went through the document and asked Ntanzi questions as they appeared.
“Do you smoke Mr Ntanzi ?” Sibanda asked.
“No, I don’t smoke, my lord. I’ve never smoked in my entire life,” he replied.
“But then how did the doctor know, because this information falls within your personal knowledge, the doctor wouldn’t have known if you didn’t tell him,” said Sibanda.
Ntanzi replied: “I don’t know where he got that information, but I didn’t give him any information, my lord.”
“Have you been operated or are you on any medication?’’ Sibanda enquired.
“No, I’ve never been operated and I’m not on any medication,” Ntanzi replied.
“Do you drink?’’ he asked.
“No, I don’t drink, my lord,’’ said Ntanzi.
“But how did Dr Hlokwa manage to get all the answers right if you didn’t tell him? Are you telling me he just sat down and decided to guess all these answers?” Sibanda asked.
Ntanzi replied: “Let’s get thing one thing clear, I never said the Dr Hlokwe sat down and wrote stuff. What I know is that sometimes you can tell when someone smokes and you can tell when someone drinks alcohol, its easy to spot such people.”
Despite Ntanzi denying answering the medical questionnaire, Sibanda said his answers corresponded with what the doctor wrote, furthermore, his attorney never disputed the information when Dr Hlokwa was testifying.
“I’m glad that you indicated that he was the one writing, not me, I didn’t fill in the document, that’s him, not me. I don’t know where he got that information, my lord,” said Ntanzi.
Police had taken Ntanzi to the dentist in the Tlhabane Community Health Centre, North West, to determine whether he had a gold tooth which he might have removed.
One of the descriptions given by the people who were with Meyiwa when he was shot dead, was that one of the intruders who matched Ntanzi’s description, had a gold tooth.
The trial continues on Wednesday with Ntanzi still under cross-examination.
IOL