The Pretoria High Court will on Wednesday deliver its judgment on the live broadcasting of the next witness in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial.
The proceedings came to a halt on Monday after the witness, through state advocate George Baloyi, applied for her testimony not to be broadcast live, citing concerns for her safety and discomfort.
However, Dan Rosengarten, representing the media, argued for the proceedings to continue as before, with no faces shown but with audio being broadcast.
Rosengarten pointed out that the witness had demonstrated in previous interviews that she was comfortable with cameras and even tweeted about the proceedings as they happened on Monday.
The unidentified witness is described as a “well-known personality who performs publicly from time to time”.
Speculation has been rife that she could be one of the Khumalo sisters, Kelly or Zandie, who were present on the night Meyiwa was killed at their mother’s home in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg in October 2014.
The defense advocates for the accused also opposed the application, arguing that they were being caught off-guard and that the court should not be swayed by public comments made outside the courtroom.
Zandile Mshololo, defense counsel for accused number five, criticized the witness’ fear of public scrutiny, stating that the court’s decisions are solely based on the evidence presented and not influenced by external remarks.
Mshololo, despite her own compromised safety due to working on the case since its inception, expressed her commitment to continuing with the trial, emphasizing that her safety had also been compromised.
“My safety has been compromised too as counsel here, but I am continuing with this trial,” she told the courtroom.
Advocate Sipho Ramosepele, representing accused one and two, dismissed the witness’ objections as “flimsy” and suggested that her safety would not be compromised if only her audio was broadcast.
Advocate Zithulele Nxumalo, representing the fourth accused, urged the court to dismiss the witness’ application as baseless and not let it hold the proceedings hostage.
While the witness objected to the live broadcasting of her testimony, she did not raise any objections to the presence of journalists in the courtroom.
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