Chief Justice Raymond Zondo has condemned the way in which advocate Malesela Teffo was arrested during the murder trial of Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa at the Pretoria High Court last week.
Zondo said Teffo, an officer of the court, was arrested in a manner that was “totally unacceptable and showed disrespect” for the judiciary, noting that the police should have waited for him to leave the courtroom.
“After all, as I understand the position, the warrant of arrest had been issued about two months earlier and waiting until advocate Teffo had left the court premises would not have made any difference,” said Zondo.
Teffo was arrested for failing to appear before the Hillbrow magistrate’s court on charges of assault and trespassing on January 27. He is out on R10 000 bail and will return to court on May 27.
Teffo, who is representing four of the five men accused of killing Meyiwa on October 26 2014, spent Thursday night in the police cells after he was arrested just when Meyiwa’s court proceedings were wrapping up.
Meyiwa was murdered at the home of his then-girlfriend Kelly Khumalo in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg, in what the state believes was a botched robbery.
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