HOLE IN THABANI’S CAR INTENTIONAL - WITNESS

MATSAPHA – “If the hole in the car which was driven by Thabani Nkomonye when he was allegedly involved in an accident was caused by a bolt, it must have been done intentionally.”

This is according to evidence that was submitted by a witness, Thoba Neto, who told the Coroner, Senior Magistrate Nonhlanhla Dlamini, that he possessed an Engineering Certificate which he obtained from Atlas Scan Air, Johannesburg in South Africa and he worked at Scan Air Charter in Matsapha Airport Flying Club, where he inspected and serviced aircraft. He also alleged that he worked as a mechanic, designed metal objects, manufactured bolts and did panel beating. He delivered his evidence yesterday and was led by Lawyer Mangaliso Nkomondze, who first took him to inspect the car at Matsapha Police Station.  As lawyer Nkomondze led him in evidence, the witness told the coroner that he was an expert when it came to bolts as he had been in the field for over 30 years.

Involved

Thereafter, the lawyer asked him if he panel beated vehicles which had been involved in accidents and he responded to the affirmative. Nkomondze then asked him what they usually did when panel beating a car and he submitted that it depended on the nature of the damages as sometimes they fixed it without cutting anything. The lawyer also asked him if he had dealt with cars that had plastic bumpers and if he had fixed them. The witness responded to the positive to both questions and even mentioned that at his workstation, he was currently fixing a plastic bumper. Thereafter, Lawyer Nkomondze asked him to tell the coroner what he did and observed in the car at Matsapha Police Station when he inspected it earlier on. He submitted that he saw a white scratch on the rear bumper of the car and at the end of the scratch mark, there was a hole. He added that he observed that the bumper was the flexible type.

The lawyer then told the witness that in relation to the hole, Detective Inspector Vincent Mbingo, a ballistics expert from the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS), came to give evidence before the coroner and submitted that in his expert analysis, the hole that the witness had seen in the bumper was caused by a bolt. The lawyer then wondered if the witness did observe any bolt around the area of the bumper in the car and Neto responded to the positive.

Diameter

Thereafter, he gave the witness Inspector Mbingo’s report and asked him to go to page five, which had two pictures; that of the bolt was 22mm long and a diameter of 6mm. Again, the lawyer asked the witness to go to page six and seven which also showed different angles of the bolt. He then asked him if he could confirm that he saw the bolt which was shown in the pictures, when he inspected the car and again, the witness responded to the affirmative. Furthermore, Lawyer Nkomondze told the witness that on page six of Inspector Mbingo’s report, the first pictures showed a hole and there was another picture of the same hole on page seven. He then asked him if he could see that and he responded to the positive. Thereafter, the lawyer asked him what he could say about Inspector Mbingo’s conclusion that the hole was caused by the bolt. “Threads in a plastic material can only be caused by yourself if you want them to be there,” the witness submitted. However, the lawyer asked him to elaborate what he meant by that. In response, he said for example, if one used a screw on a plastic material, like the bumper, it would form the threads and unlock. He added that when the person unscrewed, the screw would come out.

Unscrews

“As the person unscrews the screw, the threads will remain in the hole in the bumper,” the witness added. Again, the lawyer asked the witness what made him say that he had a problem with Inspector Mbingo’s report that the hole was caused by a bolt. He responded by submitting that the hole looked like the said bolt was screwed in and out. “This is to say if the bolt caused the hole in the bumper because of an impact, there would be a cut, not threads,” the witness submitted. He emphasised that the threads in the hole meant that the bolt was screwed in and out.The lawyer asked the witness if he could rule out a situation where there was a hard impact on the bumper, then the bolt pierced it and threads were caused. “It is impossible, particularly the formation of the threads,” the witness submitted. Once more, the lawyer asked if it would be possible that the hole could be created, but the bumper does not crack. “Yes, but only if the bumper is drilled,” he replied.

Furthermore, the lawyer asked what would happen if there was high impact. He asked that according to his experience, if there could be a hole alone there should also be a crack. In response, he submitted that there could be a hole if there was a big impact, but the hole can be big. Thereafter, the lawyer asked that they should talk about the size of the bolt, which made him disagree with Mbingo. “The size of the hole is bigger than the bolt. The hole also has fine threads in it, compared to the rough threads on the bolt,” the witness submitted. The legal eagle also asked the witness if he noticed if the bolt was bent or straight and in response, he submitted that it was bent to the right. Following up on his answer, the lawyer asked the witness that when comparing the fact that the bolt in the car was bent to the right with the hole on the bumper, what would be his conclusion.

Impact

Firstly, he submitted that if there was an impact, there was supposed to be a hole with no threads because it would mean there was no fastening. When commenting about the comparison between the bolt which was bent to the right and the hole in the bumper of the car, he said it (hole) was facing downwards, but the bolt was facing right. He added that the threads were also facing down like the hole. Afterwards, the lawyer asked the witness to look at page six of the report, which showed a picture of the hole. He asked him what he observed, paying attention to the bevelling. He also highlighted that Inspector Mbingo told the coroner that there were some shearing bevelling on the bumper pointing outwards, showing that what caused the hole was from inside.
“The flowering of the hole is outside-inwards, it shows that something was pushed from outside, inward the car,” the witness submitted. On the other hand, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Phila Dlamini applied for the postponement of the matter.

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