Meyiwa case postponed as crucial witness from Durban is yet to arrive in Pretoria

The family of slain soccer star Senzo Meyiwa say testimony revealed in his murder trial thus far has led to them feeling let down by the SA Police Service.

After missing several previous court proceedings, the Meyiwa family was in the high court in Pretoria on Monday, when a new witness was expected to take to the stand. This witness is crucial as it is a person who was reportedly inside the Vosloorus house when Meyiwa was shot in October 2014.

“We are very ashamed by SAPS. As a family, we feel that they have failed us. It's been a long time and if there are police who do not want to tell the truth, but they are the ones that we are trusting in, it’s a shame for us,” said Nomalanga Meyiwa, Senzo's sister. 

“They didn’t do justice to us, as we were supposed to get help from them. If they are saying they did not do their job accordingly and they are agreeing [that there were shortcomings], where do we [turn to]?”

Her comments come after two witnesses — both of whom are police officers who responded to the scene — gave conflicting evidence when they took to the dock.

The defence poked holes in their testimony, accusing them of doing shoddy work at the scene where Meyiwa was fatally wounded. 

Nomalanga said the family had mixed feelings about the next witness who is to take the stand.

“We hope we will get new evidence that will tell us what happened and who is responsible for Senzo’s death, so that as a family we can find closure,” she said.

“We are hoping that all people being called to the stand will tell the truth, so that we know what happened. We are hoping that if they call people who were inside the house, they must be the ones who must tell us what happened — because we hope they are the ones who saw and know what happened.

“We hope they will tell us the whole truth so that we know where to look to get the truth.”

As proceedings got underway, state prosecutor George Baloyi told the court the case could not continue as the witness would only be arriving in Gauteng later in the day. He was travelling from Durban. 

Baloyi asked for the matter to stand down to Tuesday.

“We are now moving to the segment of evidence of what transpired in the house and the witness who was due to testify today can only be here this afternoon. The state could not secure a flight for him at the weekend as they were oversubscribed and the flight that we could arrange is only arriving this afternoon,” he said.

“We did arrange for a replacement witness, and I was informed only this morning that that witness has asked that we should reschedule his evidence and that is the reason the case cannot proceed today. We submit that it’s due to circumstances beyond the control of the state.”

Both defence lawyers opposed the postponement application, saying this was a delaying tactic. Advocate Zandile Mshololo said there are still witnesses from the house who are in Gauteng.

Granting the postponement, judge Tshifhiwa Maumela reiterated that the state must avoid such situations in the future. “The application for a postponement overnight is granted, while the state is urged to try its all to avoid gaps in between the matter,” he said.

Five men stand accused of killing Meyiwa, : Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya‚ Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi‚ Mthobisi Prince Ncube‚ Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa and Fisokuhle Nkani Ntuli.

Meyiwa was shot dead at the home of his girlfriend, singer Kelly Khumalo. She and several other people, including her mother, sister, her sister’s boyfriend and a friend of Meyiwa’s, said he had been shot in a robbery gone wrong.

The five accused, who have all pleaded not guilty, appeared disappointed as they were informed of the postponement.

Following the postponement, Nomalanga Meyiwa said: “We thought that when they called the witness, we would hear what happened.

“I think on that day, when we got the report that Senzo had passed on and when we heard that his friends were there — and not just any friends, close friends — we thought it wouldn’t be long until we find out what happened. We knew that they were people who were very close to Senzo — and we were hoping that they would tell us the truth on exactly what happened and who shot Senzo.”

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