SA wants answers after arrest of advocate defending suspects in Senzo Meyiwa case

The arrest of advocate Malesela Teffo, who is representing four of the five men accused of murdering former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa, during the murder trial proceedings has sparked conspiracy theories among social media users.

Meyiwa was gunned down in Vosloorus in October 2014 at the home of his girlfriend and mother of his child Kelly Khumalo.

Teffo was arrested inside the Pretoria high court on Thursday, apparently for failure to appear in court in Hillbrow for a separate matter.

He accused police minister Bheki Cele of instructing police to arrest him. 

The minister has denied having a hand in Teffo’s arrest. On Thursday he told eNCA he heard about the arrest when his spokesperson Lirandzu Themba informed him about it on Thursday afternoon.

Themba said the minister requested a full report from the national police commissioner on Teffo’s arrest and the manner in which the was arrest handled by police. 

According to Teffo’s instructing attorney, Tshepo Thobane, the advocate’s arrest came as no surprise, saying they were alerted during the court lunch break it would happen. He said it was an intimidation tactic after the murder suspects’ lawyers revealed in court that the crime scene was contaminated.

Twitter was quickly flooded with responses to Teffo’s arrest. Some claimed it would delay justice for Meyiwa eight years after his death. Others suggested Teffo was being “silenced”. 

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