Was Senzo Meyiwa alive when he was taken to hospital?

A defence lawyer in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, alleging contamination of the crime scene, said on Tuesday he intends to bring a witness who will testify that the footballer died at the home of his girlfriend Kelly Khumalo — before being driven to hospital.

“The witness will further testify that when the deceased was taken to the hospital, he was taken by his car, driven by Kelly Khumalo,” said advocate Malesela Teffo.

Meyiwa was shot dead at the Vosloorus property in October 2014.

Teffo is cross-examining the first state witness, Sgt Thabo Mosia, who was the forensics expert on the scene.

Teffo put it to the court that “Meyiwa's body” being removed from the scene was a contamination of the crime scene.

This is after Mosia told the court that when he went to Botshelong hospital, Meyiwa was already there, inside the hospital, where he was declared dead.

“When you say they took him to hospital to save his life, actually they were going to dump him at the hospital mortuary?” Teffo said.

He told the court the people who took Meyiwa to hospital had no medical training. 

“He was certified dead at 21:15 — he was officially declared [deceased], it was not that he arrived alive,” Teffo said.

Mosia said the trip to hospital was an attempt to save Meyiwa's life by the people around him and that was why the body wasn’t at the crime scene.

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.