A Durban police officer who is accused of killing and hiding the body of a ‘suspect’ he took in for questioning, has been granted R20 000 bail in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Sergeant Ayanda Doctor Ntombela, a former detective at Mariannhill Police Station is charged with murder, kidnapping, theft and defeating the ends of justice.

According to the charge sheet, it is alleged that on August 8, Ntombela took Sihle Mtshare (27) from his uncle’s home for questioning.

Madoda Martin Zulu, the investigating officer in this case from police watchdog entity Ipid (Independent Police Investigative Directorate), testified during the bail application that Ntombela took Mtshare to the police station but did not officially book him.

Zulu said there were witnesses willing to testify to seeing Ntombela with Mtshare at the police station.

He testified that information from another person at the police station, along with GPS tracking information on Ntombela’s van, enabled police to find Mtshare’s body.

Mtshare’s body was found on August 21, buried in a stormwater drain in Hammersdale outside Pinetown, about seven kilometres from Ntombela’s home.

Ntombela resigned from his job of 20 years shortly afterwards and later handed himself over to police in the Pinetown. Zulu alleges that Ntombela was also found in possession of Mtshare’s phone.

During his bail application, Ntombela said he intends to plead not guilty. Under cross-examination, Ntombela elected to remain silent.

Ntombela’s bail application was under schedule 6, which meant the onus was on him to show exceptional circumstances on why he should be released on bail.

Ntombela said he had two wives and 11 children, a business and a large family, for whom he was the sole provider, and argued that his life and family was in KwaZulu-Natal and he would not evade authorities if he were released.

Magistrate Mngadi said community protests against Ntombela would not influence her decision.

“A lot of the evidence submitted by the state is hearsay and still needs to be investigated. The court needs to be mindful of how long that process might take, and the court also needs to take into consideration the time that Ntombela has already spent behind bars,” she said.

Mngadi said she was satisfied that Ntombela did not know the identity of the witnesses and would not interfere with them.

The matter was adjourned to November 10 for further investigation.