INQUEST: ‘BOLTS EXPERT’ DOESN’T RECALL WHERE HE GRADUATED

MATSAPHA – A witness, who previously told the coroner that he is an expert in bolts and nuts, submitted that he did not recall the college where he leant about it.

Thoba Neto, who gave evidence to the Coroner, Senior Magistrate Nonhlanhla Dlamini about the hole in the rear bumper of the car which was driven by the late Thabani Nkomonye on the day he disappeared (May 8, 2021), made his second appearance yesterday and was to be cross-examined by Prosecutor Fikile Dlamini. The prosecutor asked the witness if he recalled that during his previous appearance before the coroner, he was asked to bring his academic qualifications (certificates) and he responded to the positive.

Engineering

The witness had told the coroner at the time 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. In his appearance yesterday, the prosecutor asked him if he had brought his academic qualifications (certificate) and he responded to the negative. The prosecutor asked him to explained why he failed to bring it and he claimed that he looked for it, but could not find it. He alleged that at home, they told him that as a person who used to travel a lot, he used to take the certificate with him and might have misplaced it.

“The only certificate I managed to get is my Junior Certificate (JC) one,” the witness submitted. The prosecutor asked him if he tried to get confirmation of his certificate from the institution where he acquired it. However, Lawyer Mangaliso Nkomondze, who led the witness when delivering his evidence, intervened by submitting to the coroner that the line of questioning of the prosecutor was not taking them anywhere. He asked that they should proceed and stop wasting time. In response, the prosecutor said they were not wasting time because Neto’s evidence was on record and they needed to verify his qualifications. The witness submitted that he did not use his certificate because he was self-employed and that when he called his relatives in South Africa, they said they did not find it too. He maintained that he acquired his certificate from Atlas Scan Air in South Africa. The prosecutor asked him how long was the course which he allegedly did at Atlas Scan Air and in response; he submitted that he did not remember the duration of the course.

Again, the prosecutor asked him what the course entailed and he alleged that it was about engineering, technical drawing and metal work. The prosecutor reminded him that in his evidence, he told the coroner that he also did designing and  assembling aircraft among other things. The witness submitted that he did his theory at Atlas Scan Air and his practicals at Scan Air Charter in Matsapha Airport. He clarified that he only got a certificate at Atlas Scan Air, not at Scan Air Charter in Matsapha Airport.

Qualifications

Once more, the prosecutor wanted to know if she would be correct that the witness told the coroner that he was an expert in bolts and nuts and he responded to the positive. She then asked him what qualifications he had that made him an expert. He said he did welding, design and making threads. “Where did you get those qualifications?” the prosecutor asked. In response, Neto alleged that when he was in South Africa, he learnt a lot about bolts and nuts and making threads in different places.
“So, you cannot recall the college where you learnt about bolts and nuts together with creating threads?” the prosecutor asked and the witness responded to the positive. Thereafter, she asked if it would be safe to say he did not have academic qualifications for the job he was doing and that he was not an expert in bolts and nuts. “Kuyafana nekutsi ngite vele (It is the same as not having one),” the witness said. Again, Lawyer Nkomondze submitted that he felt that the question was unfair to the witness, especially that part where it was put to him that he was not an expert. The prosecutor said she asked the witness where he obtained his qualifications and he told the coroner that he did not remember.

Remember

“He said he is an expert, yet he does not remember where he obtained his qualifications,” the prosecutor said. In response, the lawyer submitted that some of the witnesses like Dr Komma Reddy did not produce their academic certificates and it was on record that he lacked some qualifications. He added that in vocational training, expertise was not only based on certificates, but practicals. In that regard, the lawyer said Neto’s expertise should also be based on the work he had done. “It is for that reason that I object to the line of questioning. The witness is a friend to the inquest and he should be treated with professionalism,” the lawyer submitted. However, the prosecutor said it was not logical for someone not to recall where he obtained his academic qualifications. She said even if it was from a vocational centre, tests were being written and a certificate would be issued thereafter. The coroner asked that they should start focusing on the evidence he had submitted.

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