Senzo Mncube, the man accused of being the triggerman behind the murder of North West millionaire Wandile Bozwana and the attempted murder of his business partner Mpho Baloyi, was placed on the scene of the shooting when the pair were attacked.
Mncube appeared on Tuesday in the Pretoria high court on charges of murder and attempted murder of the pair on October 2 2015. His co-accused, Sipho Hudla, Robert Mutapa, Vusi “Khekhe” Mathibela and Bonginkosi Khumalo, were sentenced to 30 years for the attack in January this year.
The four men were found guilty of the murder and attempted murder in June 2023. They were arrested within months of the hit, but Mncube spent nearly six years on the run before he was finally arrested in Ulundi, KwaZulu-Natal, on May 23 2021.
His trial was separated from the main trial as the trial started while he was still on the run.
Col Lambertus Steyn, a cellphone and data analyst tasked with analysing data of all the accused, including those of Bozwana and Baloyi, told and illustrated to the court how Mncube had been in contact with Mutapa on numerous occasions in the hours before, during and after Bozwana was murdered.
Steyn also testified that Mncube was in the vicinity of Bozwana as they stalked him from Sandton City until gunning him down on the Garsfontein off-ramp of the N1.
Steyn’s testimony was confirmed by Krishan Pillay, a law enforcement agency manager at MTN. His department deals with subpoenas forwarded to them by different law enforcement authorities requesting information about suspects who are under investigation.
Pillay, who supplied Steyn with the raw cellphone data specific to the times surrounding Bozwana’s murder, confirmed that Mncube’s cellphone had been in the same vicinity as Bozwana on October 2 2015.
“At 12.13pm, the accused was in Sandton City because he made a call that was captured by one of MTN’s towers [there].
“At 2:14pm, there was movement of Mncube’s cellphone as it was picked up by the Membrane Switch Tower in Wynberg. Four minutes later, Mncube’s cellphone was in Wendywood, at the same time as the deceased’s (Bozwana's) cellphone because they were picked up by the same tower,” he said.
The matter continues on Wednesday for further testimony.
In the trial of the four men in July 2020, Lt-Col Wiseman Shipungu testified how Hudla took police to Sandton City in 2020, where he pointed out in chronological order how they stalked and murdered Bozwana.
On that fateful afternoon of October2 2015, Bozwana and Baloyi had stopped at the traffic light on the N1 Garsfontein off-ramp when a BMW M3 pulled up next to them and a man got out and opened fire. Bozwana, 43, who died later at Unitas Hospital in Pretoria, was hit at least nine times. Baloyi was hit twice.
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Cellphone data 'places Bozwana murder suspect at scene of crime'
Mncube’s cellphone was in Wendywood at the same time as Bozwana's: witness
Image: Antonio Muchave
Senzo Mncube, the man accused of being the triggerman behind the murder of North West millionaire Wandile Bozwana and the attempted murder of his business partner Mpho Baloyi, was placed on the scene of the shooting when the pair were attacked.
Mncube appeared on Tuesday in the Pretoria high court on charges of murder and attempted murder of the pair on October 2 2015. His co-accused, Sipho Hudla, Robert Mutapa, Vusi “Khekhe” Mathibela and Bonginkosi Khumalo, were sentenced to 30 years for the attack in January this year.
The four men were found guilty of the murder and attempted murder in June 2023. They were arrested within months of the hit, but Mncube spent nearly six years on the run before he was finally arrested in Ulundi, KwaZulu-Natal, on May 23 2021.
His trial was separated from the main trial as the trial started while he was still on the run.
Col Lambertus Steyn, a cellphone and data analyst tasked with analysing data of all the accused, including those of Bozwana and Baloyi, told and illustrated to the court how Mncube had been in contact with Mutapa on numerous occasions in the hours before, during and after Bozwana was murdered.
Steyn also testified that Mncube was in the vicinity of Bozwana as they stalked him from Sandton City until gunning him down on the Garsfontein off-ramp of the N1.
Steyn’s testimony was confirmed by Krishan Pillay, a law enforcement agency manager at MTN. His department deals with subpoenas forwarded to them by different law enforcement authorities requesting information about suspects who are under investigation.
Pillay, who supplied Steyn with the raw cellphone data specific to the times surrounding Bozwana’s murder, confirmed that Mncube’s cellphone had been in the same vicinity as Bozwana on October 2 2015.
“At 12.13pm, the accused was in Sandton City because he made a call that was captured by one of MTN’s towers [there].
“At 2:14pm, there was movement of Mncube’s cellphone as it was picked up by the Membrane Switch Tower in Wynberg. Four minutes later, Mncube’s cellphone was in Wendywood, at the same time as the deceased’s (Bozwana's) cellphone because they were picked up by the same tower,” he said.
The matter continues on Wednesday for further testimony.
In the trial of the four men in July 2020, Lt-Col Wiseman Shipungu testified how Hudla took police to Sandton City in 2020, where he pointed out in chronological order how they stalked and murdered Bozwana.
On that fateful afternoon of October2 2015, Bozwana and Baloyi had stopped at the traffic light on the N1 Garsfontein off-ramp when a BMW M3 pulled up next to them and a man got out and opened fire. Bozwana, 43, who died later at Unitas Hospital in Pretoria, was hit at least nine times. Baloyi was hit twice.
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