New judge will preside over Senzo Meyiwa murder trial: Family

Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng is set to preside over the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, taking over from Judge Tshifiwa Maumela.

The Meyiwa family confirmed to TimesLIVE that they were informed about this on Monday night by one of the officials involved in an earlier investigation.

The National Prosecuting Authority is set to make the announcement on Tuesday.

Meyiwa's brother, Sifiso, lamented that the NPA was not keeping the family in the loop on developments in the trial.

“These people show that they don't care about the family. The NPA and the police who are investigating the murder case and who arrested those men, those people don't care about the family,” he asserted.

However, Sifiso was hopeful that the new judge will handle the case with proficiency.

“We are hopeful that this will go well because the way we see it, he looks like a person who doesn't take nonsense,” he said.

The switch in judges comes after the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) confirmed last week that judges Maumela and Nomonde Mngqibisa-Thusi were handed official suspension notices, signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa. The JSC had recommended in April that they be suspended after complaints about the time it takes them to hand down judgments

The murder trial was in June postponed to July as Gauteng deputy judge president Aubrey Ledwaba said Maumela was not available due to ill health and may not be available for a long time.

TimesLIVE

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