Thabani inquest: Police guns ired shots, but ...
MATSAPHA - An examination which was done on the police guns linked to the alleged killing of Thabani Nkomonye has proven that the firearms did fire shots.
However, according to Assistant Superintendent Vusi Madonsela from the Ballistics Department in the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS), who examined the three guns, it could not be determined when they last fired shots.
The assistant superintendent, who is witness 28 in the ongoing inquest into the death of Nkomonye, made this submission yesterday when he delivered his evidence before the Coroner, Senior Magistrate Nonhlanhla Dlamini. He had two reports, which he later submitted as evidence to the coroner.
Regarding the first report, he submitted that on June 17, 2021, he received sealed bags with exhibits.
The assistant superintendent alleged that the first bag was RSP SFSL 1909112, while the other one was SWAG 03449.
He said it was marked inter alia, that it was from the Manzini Police Station, enquiry file 283 of 2021.
According to the witness, the exhibits included a 9mm Parabellum pistol, known as a Browning. “The purpose of the examination was to check if it was capable of discharging live rounds of ammunition and to identify if the cartridges could be discharged from a firearm”.
The witness submitted that he checked the eight cartridges and found that indeed it was real live rounds of ammunition as the bullets were still intact.
The assistant superintendent added that all the components were there and the primer of the cartridges was not hit.
Examined
After that, he alleged that he examined the firearm and found that all its parts were proper.
He submitted that he then took his two cartridges to test the gun.
He submitted that he marked his test as 302/T1 and 302/T2.
Once more, the witness told the coroner that he was also supposed to check the gun’s last shots.
“However, that could not be determined,” he submitted. Thereafter, the Prosecutor, Fikile Dlamini, asked the witness to elaborate on what he meant about that. He submitted that if one conducted range shooting and fired maybe 10 shots and took the gun back to the armoury without cleaning it, then someone else took it and fired two or three cartridges, an examiner could not tell when last it fired a shot. The witness alleged that this was because during a shooting, the propellants of the cartridge sometimes burn while others were partially burnt.
“If a person dismantles the gun, checks inside the barrel using a white cloth, it will come with the burnt substances, but cannot tell when it was burnt,” the witness submitted.
Again, the prosecutor asked if generally he could be able to tell when a firearm last fired a shot and he responded to the negative. The prosecutor verified if he meant that they could tell that a firearm had fired a shot, but could not know when it happened and the witness responded to the positive.
After that, the witness proceeded to his second report and submitted that he received two 9mm Sig Sauer Parabellums – semi automatic with 10 cartridges each.
Intention
He stated that the intention of the examination was to determine if the firearms were capable of discharging cartridges and if it was live rounds of ammunition.
The witness added that he examined and tested the guns and found that they were working. He alleged that he also fired his own cartridges with both firearms. “However, I could not determine when it last fired shots,” the witness submitted. When he was crossexamined by Lawyer Mangaliso Nkomondze, the witness clarified that when he examined the firearms, he used a white cloth to check the barrels of the guns and found burnt propellants, which was proof that they had fired shots. However, he maintained that he could not tell when the shots were last fired.