The high court in Pretoria has granted a request by advocate Zandile Mshololo to postpone the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial so she can study the contents of the second docket disclosed last week.
Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela said the accused were entitled to a fair and speedy trial.
“The fact put on the table by advocate Mshololo is that she needs to go into the contents of the second docket,” he said.
Mshololo, for accused five, on Tuesday called out her fellow defence council for his conduct as he tried to make submissions to court.
“This is very unfair and is unprecedented in our law that when a counsel for another accused is in the middle of cross-examination, another council will bring an application, whether it is on jurisdiction or constitutional violation. The turn for my learned friend is coming,” she said.
Advocate Malesela Teffo, acting for accused one to four, addressed the court for about two hours and wanted to introduce the statement of a witness who was not in the witness box.
Mshololo said: “At this time he ought to have respected me and afforded me an opportunity to finish my cross-examination before he could bring the submissions he has made.”
LISTEN | Senzo Meyiwa trial postponed for defence to study controversial second docket
Image: Antonio Muchave
The high court in Pretoria has granted a request by advocate Zandile Mshololo to postpone the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial so she can study the contents of the second docket disclosed last week.
Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela said the accused were entitled to a fair and speedy trial.
“The fact put on the table by advocate Mshololo is that she needs to go into the contents of the second docket,” he said.
Mshololo, for accused five, on Tuesday called out her fellow defence council for his conduct as he tried to make submissions to court.
“This is very unfair and is unprecedented in our law that when a counsel for another accused is in the middle of cross-examination, another council will bring an application, whether it is on jurisdiction or constitutional violation. The turn for my learned friend is coming,” she said.
Advocate Malesela Teffo, acting for accused one to four, addressed the court for about two hours and wanted to introduce the statement of a witness who was not in the witness box.
Mshololo said: “At this time he ought to have respected me and afforded me an opportunity to finish my cross-examination before he could bring the submissions he has made.”
Teffo accused the court of overlooking the rights of his clients. He claimed there was a cover-up regarding the status of the second docket.
A letter read into the record on Monday by the state said the second docket did not enjoy any status and was “an internal opinion from a junior state advocate which has no merit”.
Meyiwa was killed at his then-girlfriend singer Kelly Khumalo’s home in Vosloorus on the East Rand in 2014.
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Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthobisi Prince Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Sifisokuhle Nkani Ntuli have been charged with his murder. The five face charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, possession of firearms without a licence and illegal possession of ammunition.
They have all pleaded not guilty.
The case was postponed to July 12 for heads of arguments on the second docket, and the trial itself was postponed to September 5.
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Lawyer disputes Pretoria high court’s jurisdiction over Meyiwa murder case
'Docket accusing Kelly not official document': Senzo Meyiwa murder trial
Meyiwa trial: Second docket which names Kelly Khumalo stalls trial
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