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By Maryke Vermaak
A woman police constable's ability to read and explain rights to two people arrested for killing rightwing leader Eugene Terre'Blanche came under fire on Thursday.
Constable Kedibone Sophie Mokwele was asked by a defence lawyer in the High Court sitting in Ventersdorp to read a phrase written in English and explain it Setswana.
She was unable to do so, prompting defence lawyer Kgomotso Tlouane to say: "Madam, you are pathetic."
Tlouane is acting for Chris Mahlangu who, along with a minor, is accused of beating Terre'Blanche to death in his farmhouse outside Ventersdorp on April 3, 2010.
Both have pleaded not guilty to murder, housebreaking, and robbery with aggravating circumstances. Mahlangu claims he acted in self defence. The teenager has denied involvement in the crime.
In a trial within a trial on Thursday on the admissibility of evidence, the constable said she read the accused their rights after their arrest, first in English and then explained the contents in Setswana.
It was at this point that Tlouane asked her to read a phrase from the notice of rights. She was unable to do so.
She read, "you are now complete to make a statement" instead of "you are not compelled to make a statement".
Tlouane reacted: "How do you explain the rights to a person when you yourself do not understand it?" he asked her.
He contended she had not seen the document before. Earlier, Mokwele maintained she had read and explained the rights to Mahlangu and the minor. "I asked (Mahlangu) if he understood. He indicated that he understood and then signed," she said.
Zola Majavu, for the minor, cross-examined Mokwele after Tlouane and questioned her proficiency in English. She admitted she would struggle to continue her conversation with Majavu without the court interpreter.
She said her command of the English language was not very good and the version of rights explained to the two was only a summary of what she read in English.
The time she took to explain the rights was also questioned.
The times she filled in on the rights certificates after they were signed as proof the procedure was followed, 9.30pm and 9.31pm, were only a minute apart.
The constable sought to explain this by saying she might have made a mistake.
Majavu told her: "It is because of people like you in the South African Police Service that [contribute] to the deteriorating standards."
Prosecutor George Baloy asked Mokwele to explain what she said in her summary of the rights to both accused.
She said: "I told him he is a suspect in a murder case. He’s got the right to have his own lawyer or one from the State. Anything that he says will be evidence in court.
"He had the right to phone his family members and tell them he was arrested. That he will also appear in court within 48 hours. That is all I can remember."
