Questions on Thabani search radius, timing
MATSAPHA – Could police officers have done a shoddy job in the search for Thabani Nkomonye’s body?
This question comes to the fore after Constable Mdumiseni Mzileni informed the Coroner, Senior Magistrate Nonhlanhla Dlamini, that the radius that was likely to be covered when police officers searched for a missing body in an accident scene was between 50-100 metres from the accident scene.
It was after lawyer Mangaliso Nkomondze had asked Constable Mzileni to assist the coroner with information on the procedures taken to search for a missing body at an accident scene.
Nkomondze made a scenario where police officers were being assisted by 12 people in searching for the body, what the radius that would be covered in search for it could be.
“In my opinion, it should be 50 to 100 metres,” Constable Mzileni responded.
This is much against the seven metres that police officers revealed they covered when searching for Nkomonye’s body at Nhlambeni.
Thabani is the law student believed to have been involved in an accident, but his body was discovered some days later.
The late discovery of the body raised suspicions to some members of the public that the police had something to do with it, resulting in government initiating an inquest into the matter.
Meanwhile, Mzileni told the coroner that as soon as officers were aware of a road traffic accident, they first ascertained if there were any people injured and then called an ambulance to take the casualties to hospital. He said in the event that the driver or passenger was not found and the car was extensively damaged, they often suspected that the person was injured. He said they then searched the surroundings.
“If we don’t find anyone, we call a breakdown to tow the vehicle to the police station,” he said.
The constable was asked that prior to towing the vehicle, what principles were they guided by to conduct the search. In his response, the constable said they just did a random search. Mzileni said there was a distance they were required to cover from the point of collision to where the vehicle was located. He added that they then send a message to all police stations and posts, to kindly request for assistance on the lookout of the unknown driver who was suspected to have escaped with unknown injuries.
Constable Mzileni was asked how immediate was the message sent out in terms of time-frame.
“It has to be immediate. It should be within about eight hours,” he said.
Registry
The constable elaborated that the vehicle’s registration plate was taken and the police liaised with the registry to get details of the car owner. He said the only challenge they encountered was during weekends, when they found that the employees were not working.
Lawyer Nkomondze asked if this was not done for about five days, was it gross negligence from the police.
“Ligoli lisuke selingenile vele ekhaya,” responded the constable, conceding to Nkomondze’s question.
The lawyer then said a reasonable person would then infer that something amiss was concealed, hence the failure of the police to do what they were expected to do.
Constable Mzileni also responded to the positive. However, he stated that personally he would not say there was something sinister in this case.
“On my side, it could be neglect of duty or any other reasons unknown to me,” he stated.