Senzo Meyiwa murder accused being prejudiced by State’s ‘stop-and-go’ trial approach - defence
|Published
Legal representatives of the five men accused of murdering footballer Senzo Meyiwa say their clients are being prejudiced by the conduct of the State as it continues to introduce new evidence to the trial.
They have called for the State to request a long adjournment in order for it to complete its investigation after it emerged on Monday that the next witness on the stand, one Sergeant Vusimuzi Mogane, had only submitted a formal statement in September.
This was only handed to the defence last week, while the court also heard that the Section 205 cellphone evidence of accused two and accused five was still being processed by a data analyst from Vodacom. The defence argued that this was yet another sign the State was not ready for trial and was still investigating the matter.
The five murder accused in the Meyiwa murder trial, which is being heard at the Gauteng North High Court in Pretoria, are Muzikawukhulelwa Sthemba Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthobisi Prince Mncube, Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa, and Fisokuhle Nkani Ntuli (accused one to five, respectively).
They are accused of shooting dead the former Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates captain at the Vosloorus home of his girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo.
Sergeant Mogane was set to take the stand before lunch, but the defence vehemently objected to his testimony while the Section 205 records for Ntanzi and Ntuli were still not ready.
Defence Advocate Zandile Mshololo, who represents Ntuli, said Mogane’s evidence would make reference to the cellphone records, which were not yet available to the court and the defence.
“That evidence makes reference to the cellphone evidence from accused two and five. There is no Section 205 evidence attached to that. I could not consult without this Section 205 evidence.
“My client is suffering prejudice of not having a fair trial. The section 205 evidence, if the State is going to use it, the State must issue it so we can consult thoroughly,” said advocate Mshololo.
Mncube’s legal representative, advocate Charles Mnisi, slammed the State for running the trial in a “stop-and-go” approach.
He said Mogane's statements were only commissioned in September 2023.
“We are posing a point of concern... It is apparent, and it is beyond reproach, that when the State took the accused to court, the State was not ready to embark on the process,” he said, adding that the accused were arrested in 2020, but three years later, cellphone records were still not ready.
“Each time they come up with something new, we are expected to put a different version. This prejudices the accused's defence. At the end, we will argue about the credibility and reliability of what these witnesses are saying.
“It is not an embarrassment for the statement to request a long postponement. We are expecting another surprise that will necessitate a stop-and-go,” he said.
State advocate George Baloyi told the court that Mogane was only expected to testify about the confiscation of the cellphones and confirmed that the analyst at Vodacom was still busy with the relevant cellphone records.
He said they had asked the cellular company to truncate the 4,000 pages of data to only submit the relevant data required for an affidavit for the case.
“In any trial, there is massive information, and it may become relevant. We didn't know what the defence of the accused is.
“The massive amount of information accumulated will then be looked at, and the relevant portions will be analysed. That is the situation in this matter. If they need more time, we don't have a problem with that,” said Baloyi.
Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng ruled Mogane stand down. The State is expected to call a DNA expert to testify after lunch.
The trial continues.
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