Testifying in the Bloemfontein High Court, a member of the police’s Local Criminal Record Centre (LCRC), Sello Isaac Nape, says he is aware the tests were inconclusive but could not elaborate on the reasons behind the results because he was not the official who carried out the tests, but merely collected the evidence for testing. 

Nape collected evidence and took pictures not only of the crime scene but also at accused number one Stanley Bakili’s townhouse in Lilyvale on 10 May 2018 - the day Siemens was shot and killed. 

The LCRC official also recovered a pair of blue overall trousers lying on one of the couches/sofas at Bakili’s home. The blue overall is an important part of the state’s evidence because during the second week of trial, a former waiter at the now-defunct Preller Square Shopping Complex eatery, Annie’s Country Kitchen, Ohuliseng Selemela, has already testified - albeit with some confusion - that accused number four, Mojalefa “Jali” Molusi, was wearing what he described as a blue overall jacket with a bucket hat on the day of the murder.

Molusi’s legal counsel Dawie Reyneke reveals the overall pants tested negative for gun powder residue, a fact Nape also verifies.

Nape also managed to lift about nine sets of fingerprints from the alleged getaway vehicle which were then tested by his supervisor, Molefe Chomane. He determined that three of the lifted fingerprints recovered at three different spots inside and outside the now-infamous Volkswagen Polo with CA registration number plates, belonged to accused number one and alleged mastermind, Stanley Bakili; accused number four, Molusi; and the confessed assassin Xolisile “Botha” Mbebetho.

As already reported, Siemens was shot and killed on 10 May 2018 in the basement parking area of Preller Square Shopping Complex. It is alleged the deceased was paying bribes to government officials through Bakili to have CityMed’s hospital bed licence amended to allow for more beds, when the business partnership soured. 

So far in the four-week trial, Free State Health MEC Benny Malakoane, former Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, current Head of the Provincial Health Department, David Motau, and member of the provincial department’s licensing committee, Charity ‘Pinky’ Belot, have testified they did not receive any bribes from Bakili or Siemens.

Bakili, Molebatsi Mogoera, Chabane, Molusi, Moeketsi Lesia, Clive Tshivenga Tau, and Mpati are the eight men standing trial. They are between the ages of 29 and 56, and include three police officers, a disbarred advocate, an accused in separate double murder cases, and a military man.

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