A new state witness is expected to take a stand in the murder trial of former Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa at the Pretoria high court on Monday.
This after Zandile Mshololo, the defense counsel for accused number five, wrapped up her cross-examination of Meyiwa’s friend Mthokozisi Thwala on Friday.
Meyiwa was fatally shot during a supposed robbery at the home of his then-girlfriend Kelly Khumalo in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg in October 2014.
Present inside the house at the time were Khumalo’s mother Ntombi and sister Zandie, the sister’s then-boyfriend Longwe Twala, and Meyiwa’s two childhood friends Tumelo Madlala and Thwala.
Five men who are in the dock for the murder of the soccer star have all pleaded not guilty.
The state is also expected to call other witnesses who were present during the shooting to prove that a robbery did take place.
So far, only Madlala and Thwala have testified, and it remains unclear who the next witness will be.
During Friday’s proceedings, Mshololo read out a statement deposed by Meyiwa’s brother-in-law Mlungisi Edward Hlophe asking about a fight between Zandie and Twala.
Thwala disputed the claim and said the fighter never took place.
“I went back inside my car and called Tumelo Madlala on the same night, October 26 2014,” reads the statement in part.
“I wanted to get the truth of what exactly happened, Tumelo told me that there was a fight in Kelly Khumalo’s house. Zandie was fighting with her boyfriend and Senzo Meyiwa was trying to separate the two.”
Thwala did not rule out the possibility that Madlala had made the statement to Hlophe, however, he maintained that the fight did not occur.
He also argued that Hlophe had only filed his affidavit in 2019, five years after his brother-in-law was gunned down.
“It never happened. But because the statement was made in 2019, it doesn’t come as a shock to me,” Thwala told the court.
During Mshololo’s cross-examination, the court also heard that Thwala fled with his cellphone but did not call the police or seek help from neighbours due to a dead battery.
He later returned to the house and found Meyiwa bleeding on the floor, covered his wound with a towel, and neighbours advised the people in the house to call an ambulance.
Seeing that Meyiwa was still alive at the time, Thwala said, they instead tried to rush him to the hospital.
Mshololo told Thwala that Meyiwa was declared dead on arrival at the hospital and suggested that he died due to delays in getting him urgent medical treatment.
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