Pretoria – One of four men arrested and charged with the murder of Major General Tirhani Maswanganyi worked closely with the police, the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court heard on Wednesday.

Roger Godfrey Moseki, an employee of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF), told the court he had helped in many police investigations and would frequently be paid for this.

Prosecutor Lucas Moseki questioned the soldier’s claims.

“You work for the defence force as a rifleman. By rifle, I mean firearm, how then do you assist in police investigations?”

Moseki said he worked in the army’s military intelligence unit.

He said that when he found crime-related information, he conveyed it to a policeman identified as Willem van der Merwe, as he was the only officer he trusted.

The court heard on Wednesday that, after Moseki’s arrest in connection with Maswanganyi’s murder, Van der Merwe visited him in jail.

“He came to talk about the money I was owed. He came to make arrangements on how I would be paid since I was now in jail. I was owed 10 grand [R10 000] for the information I supply to the police. The fee is fluctuating, sometimes it’s more and sometimes it’s less.”

The prosecution said it would be disputed that Moseki helped police investigations.

Bail application

Security was tight at the court on Wednesday when the four accused appeared in a bail application.

Ten members of the police tactical response team, armed with rifles, were stationed inside and outside the courtroom.

Moseki appeared with Tshepo Mosai, Ndaedzo Isaac Vele, and Nditsheni Daniel Nefolovhodwe. They were arrested in June in connection with the murder of the former Johannesburg cluster commander.

Maswanganyi’s body was found on 17 June in a field near Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, with his hands and feet bound.

This followed a search which was launched after a police patrol found his Isuzu bakkie abandoned next to the R101.

A police uniform and a police identification card were in the car.

At his last court appearance on 6 September, Moseki claimed the police had tortured him into admitting that the slain officer’s wife was involved in the crime, the Saturday Star reported.

He alleged that he was nearly drowned in a bucket of water, and that he was assaulted.

“They told me that I should admit the fact that I was aware that Maswanganyi’s wife has hired us to kill the general, but I could not do that because it was not true. I told them I don’t even know who she is,” he was quoted as saying.

– SAPA