The trial of the five men accused of the murder of Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa was delayed at the Pretoria High Court on Monday due to a new witness objecting to the broadcast of her testimony.
State advocate George Baloyi applied to court to cut the cameras, citing the witness’ fear for her safety and discomfort with live broadcasting.
The unknown witness is said to be a “well-known personality who performs publicly from time to time”.
It has been widely speculated that she may be one of the Khumalo sisters, Kelly or Zandie, who were present on the night of the murder in their mother’s home in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg in October 2014.
Defence advocates for the accused opposed the application, arguing that they were being “ambushed”, and that the court should not be influenced by public comments outside of the courtroom.
“This is an embarrassment to the South African justice system that at this stage of the trial we are dealing with this witness application,” said Zandile Mshololo, defence counsel for accused number five.
“We ought to have been informed much earlier about this request by the witness.”
Mshololo dismissed the witness’ fear of public scrutiny as an insufficient argument, stating that the court is not influenced by comments made outside of it, and makes decisions solely based on presented evidence.
Despite her own compromised safety having worked on the case since its inception, Mshololo affirmed her commitment to continuing with the trial.
“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 the witness’ safety would not be compromised if only her audio was broadcast.
Meanwhile, advocate Zithulele Nxumalo, representing the fourth accused, argued that the court should not be held hostage by the application of one individual and urged the court to dismiss it as baseless.
The trial continues …
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