The Bloemfontein High Court in the Free State heard this on Monday 26 November, during the testimony of a former police officer, Molefi Benedict Koebu.

Koebu was with Tau and accused number 8, Sizwe Mpati, during their arrest in August 2018, while driving Mpati's vehicle. The Siemens murder weapon was then allegedly seized by the police after a tip-off. He told Tau's legal counsel, Dawie Reyneke, that it was the first in his 13 years of service in the SAPS that he witnessed an accused writing his own statement, as well as the statements of the other accused. He, however, maintained that he did this as per the instruction of a police officer named “Mr Sampson”. Koebu on Monday told Judge Pitso Molitsoane while at the Heidedal Police Station, at some point Tau and Mpati approached and pressured him to try and get rid of the docket because no-one could find out about the gun that was used to kill Siemens.

Meanwhile, Reyneke accused Koebu of using his testimony to save himself. Reyneke said Koebu, who is currently testifying in the murder trial of Siemens where Bakili and seven others are standing trial, is intentionally incriminating his client and Mpati to save himself from prosecution.

Koebu said Mpati asked him to drive his white BMW from Botshabelo to Bloemfontein. He said while en route to Bloemfontein they were stopped by police and arrested after the police discovered the gun.

Since his arrest in 2018, Koebu has given four different statements in relation to the murder weapon and his links to Tau and Mpati. These statements were written in the period of 2018 and 2019, which include three different supplementary statements. Reyneke accused him of absolving himself from the illegal possession of a firearm incident, as well as Tau and Mpati. He says in these other statements written between 2018 and 2019, he made no mention of other matters that may directly implicate him because he wants to falsely implicate the said accused.

Reyneke told Koebu that the more trouble he had, the more information he gave to the police. The two men, Tau and Mpati, have been indirectly linked to the murder of Siemens, who was assassinated in the basement parking area of Preller Square in May 2018.

They are alleged to have used the same gun that was used to murder the City Med Managing Director, in a separate crime months later. The duo allegedly drove to Botshabelo where they kidnapped two residents in the area, assaulted them and then robbed them of money. Tau and Mpati join Bakili, Molebatsi Mogoera, Kagiso Chabane, Mojalefa “Jali” Molusi, Moeketsi Lesia and Clive Tshivenga as the accused in the dock. The men who 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, are alleged to have played varying roles in orchestrating Siemens’ murder.

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