Advocate Credo Mlaba and his client, former eThekwini city manager, Sipho Nzuza.
A Hawks Captain revealed to the Durban High Court on Friday morning that former eThekwini city manager Sipho Nzuza was not searched upon his arrest and detention at the Durban Central police station due to his high-profile position.
This failure to search him resulted in Nzuza entering the holding cells with his cellphone, a contravention of police policy, as the officer conceded.
The State is seeking to admit evidence obtained from Nzuza’s cellphone, which police seized while he was in custody. The police maintain that they asked Nzuza for permission to take his phone for downloading and mirroring to the Digital Forensic Investigations.
However, Nzuza disputes this, claiming police told him they were taking the phone for safekeeping and never asked for his consent to download data. His lawyers argue that the evidence obtained from the cellphone cannot be used in court because it was unlawfully obtained.
