Defence argues barrel of gun confirmed to have been used to kill Senzo Meyiwa might have been swapped

The defence in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial on Friday tried to poke holes in the state's case by casting doubt on the alleged murder weapon, suggesting it might have been tampered with. 

Defence lawyer Zandile Mshololo on Friday argued that the barrels of guns were interchangeable.

She said there was no certainty the barrel of the firearm handed into court and found in the possession of Mthobisi Prince Mncube was the same barrel from a firearm tested in 2015, a year after Meyiwa's murder.

While Meyiwa was killed in what was believed to be a botched robbery in 2014, the alleged murder weapon was found in Cleveland and linked to Mncube in another unrelated case.

Mshololo was cross-examining ballistic expert W/O Cornelius Roelofse who confirmed to the court he had investigated the 9mm parabellum pistol.

On Wednesday, ballistics expert Lt-Col Christian Mangena confirmed the gun is the same one used to kill Meyiwa in 2014.

Demonstrating to the court how interchangeable barrels are, Roelofse was able to dismantle the barrel of the 9mm parabellum pistol in less than a minute.

He said he was certain it was the same gun he had investigated in 2015 as he had engraved it with a lab number under the trigger guard.

He did this as the serial number on the gun was scratched off.

However, Mshololo argued the structure of the gun could be the same but have another barrel.

Roelofse said he could not confirm that but that it was possible to change the barrels.

He maintained that if Mangena was able to find a positive match when testing the shot from the barrel and the bullets from the crime scene, that confirmed it was the same barrel.

Mangena testified he tested two bullets which matched Roelofse's tests to confirm it was the same firearm.

He then conducted his tests after the confirmation that he had the right gun, linking the gun as the murder weapon used to kill Meyiwa.

Mshololo pointed out that Roelofse had identified the gun by handwritten marks, but no evidence was presented that the marks were made by him.

“That is why I am testifying today. I received the firearm without a serial number and the SOP says if there is no serial number you engrave it under the trigger guard with the lab number,” Roelofse said.

Mshololo said there was also no proof of the condition of the firearm before he received it.

She said the firearm was handled by more than one police officer before it was examined and after it was examined.

He did not dispute that but was adamant he wrote the lab number on the firearm.

“When I took it out of the bag, there was no serial number, so irrespective of how many people handled it before it got to me, I found it in a sealed evidence bag. When I received it, it was a sealed bag. 

“I opened the bag and saw that there was no serial number and I wrote the serial number with the engraver underneath the trigger guard and that is how that number came on the firearm. It was written by me and during my investigation. I only handled the firearm, fired the test and sent it back in a sealed bag to the admin people,” he said.

When advocate Zithulelel Nxumalo asked if a firearm's barrel could be switched in the black market, Roelofse said he wouldn't know.

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