State witness grilled over CCTV expertise in AKA murder trial
The defence for the accused charged with the murder of rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and his friend Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane has grilled the state’s leading witness over his expertise to analyse CCTV footage.
KwaZulu-Natal organised crime unit sergeant Rajen Sanders, who has collected 17 video clips to track the movements of the accused, last week linked three men to being the spotter, tail and supplier of guns that killed AKA and Tibz in the Durban high court.
The two were gunned down as they left the now-defunct Wish restaurant on Florida Road in Durban on February 10 2023.
On Friday, he named accused five Lindokuhle Mhlaliseni Ndimande, 29, as one of the spotters in the gang who plotted the musician’s death.
Ndimande and Lindokuhle Thabani Mkhwanazi, 30, Lindani Zenzele Ndimande, 35, Siyanda Eddie Myeza, 23, Mziwelithini Gwabeni, 36, Malusi Dave Ndimande, 30, and Siyabonga Gezani Ndimande, 31, pleaded not guilty to charges including murder, attempted murder and illegal possession of firearms when the trial began on October 5.
Sanders who was in the witness box for the third day on Tuesday, previously named Gwabeni as the tail who followed AKA and his crew from the time they landed at King Shaka International airport.
Ndimande’s legal representative Adv Muzi Mzelemu however questioned Sanders on whether he had the expertise to make positive identifications.
“I put it to you that you don’t possess any proficiency or expertise in facial recognition and body measurements; that is to analyse the physique of individuals,” said Mzelemu.
Mzelemu also asked Sanders how he would describe the quality of the footage.
Sanders responded that the quality was good, adding that he was able to identify some of the accused because he had watched the footage several times.
Mzelemu asked him if he could see the face of the man who was driving a BMW that passed through a Sanral toll plaza near King Shaka International Airport while following AKA’s car.
Sanders said he could not see the face but was able to identify the man by what he was wearing at the airport.
Mzelemu suggested that Sanders was not a facial recognition expert and didn’t possess the qualification to identify people.
Sanders said he had viewed the footage over 10 months and he was familiar with the accused.
Another defence advocate, William Nicholson SC, questioned the authenticity of the video footage.
Nicholson said that the footage was sourced some time after the incident could not guarantee its authenticity.
“How do we know that the footage was not tampered with since it was not sourced at the same time the incident took place?” he asked.
Judge Nomfundo Sipunzi intervened and asked Nicholson if he questioned the authenticity of the footage.
Nicholson confirmed this, to which Sanders said he could not guarantee that the footage had not been tampered with, however tampered footage changes altogether in terms of time and date.