Commotion, a gun shot and a wounded Meyiwa lying on the Khumalo kitchen floor, says witness

A neighbour of the Khumalo family on Tuesday told the Pretoria high court that he found the murdered footballer, Senzo Meyiwa lying on the kitchen floor with a wound to his chest on the night he was shot. 

Khaya Stanley Ngcatshe was the second state witness to be called to the stand.

Ngcatshe was shown a sketch plan of the Khumalo house where he pointed out where Meyiwa was, stating that when he entered the house through the kitchen entrance, the wounded footballer was lying in the passage.

The first state witness, Zandile Zandi Khumalo had testified that two intruders barged into the Vosloorus house on the night Meyiwa was killed in October 2014, demanding money and cellphones.

The house was Zandile and Kelly’s mother’s home. The two women, their mother, Meyiwa, Longwe and two of Meyiwa’s friends from KwaZulu-Natal, Mthokozisi Thwala and Tumelo Madlala had reportedly been relaxing in the house, drinking and watching soccer.

Zandi testified that three gunshots went off that night. 

She testified that one shot was fired while she was in the kitchen and that the last two shots were fired while she was hiding in the bathroom.

According to Zandile, when she peeked through the bathroom door, she saw Meyiwa in a crouched position with his arms wrapped around his stomach, walking towards the sitting area.

She said he bundled himself in between the TV stand and one of the couches and was followed by Kelly and their mother.

Zandile further testified that upon realising that he was shot, she went out to look for help but came back to find  him being carried to the car with the help of his neighbours.

Going through what happened that night, Ngcatshe told the court that he heard some commotion and unusual noise coming from the Khumalo’s house while he was in his bedroom, and immediately went to investigate by checking through the window facing the Khumalo house.

Describing the noise he heard while in his bedroom, he said: “I first heard some commotion; shouting — like people were pushing each other. What caught my attention was the sound of a banging door like the door was been roughly closed.” 

He said when he peeked through his bedroom window which diagonally faces the Khumalo’s small kitchen window, he saw someone wearing a white shirt inside the house with their back against the window.

“There was still some noise even during that time,” he said.

He testified that when he went outside with his father, they found a young man who had jumped into their yard and Ngcatshe confronted him holding a steel rod.

Though not sure about the time, he said it could have been after 7pm.

“When I confronted him, I lifted up the steel rod and he asked us not to harm him, saying  he is not the one that should be accused [of the trouble in the Khumalo house]. He said there is a ‘problem’, that something had happened at the Khumalo’s house. We left him alone because we were confused as to what was happening. He jumped back into the Khumalo’s house” he said.

Ngcatshe said when he wanted to jump into the Khumalo’s house, his father stopped him.

He said after a while, when he and his father walked out of their yard, they found there was  a lot of movement at the Khumalo household. 

“There was a commotion. Some were screaming, and along the street there were neighbours moving along the vicinity,” he said.

He said after hearing that unidentified people were seen running down the street, he rushed down together with some neighbours to conduct a search for these people. They ran until a nearby park where they conducted a search but saw no-one.

He said the distance from his house to the park was about 200 metres.

Ngcatshe told the court that they went back to the Khumalo’s house from the park.

“When we got to the kitchen door, that’s where we saw the late Senzo lying down in the passage close to the kitchen,” he said.

“The first thing I noticed was the white T-shirt. We then realised that the person who is lying on the floor is Senzo. He was lying facing up. We (himself and the neighbours) rushed and tried to lift him to sit upright. From there, it was said that he should be rushed to the hospital,” he said.

Ngcatshe said: “I noticed that he had a wound on his chest, on the upper body.”

He said he could see a small blood spot on the shirt.

“We helped each other to carry him because he was very heavy. We were about six or seven helping each other. We placed him inside the X6 car that was parked at the Khumalo’s house,” Ngcatshe said.

Recounting what he witnessed that day, he said he remembered that Kelly was the one driving and Zandi was also in the car with two other occupants.

Ngcatshe told the court that at one point he called the police to alert them about the incident.

Though he can’t remember well, he estimates that it could have been after 8pm.

He explained to the court that he, his brother and neighbours had gone to the hospital to check on Meyiwa’s status and received the bad news.

He said when they came back, the Khumalo’s place was already crowded. The police were there and members of the community. 

“What I remember is that we couldn’t sleep that night. There were many people we didn’t know. They were asking questions, taking some statements. I did speak to the police. I don’t remember if it was the same night or the next morning,” he said.

When asked about his state of sobriety, he said he wasn’t totally sober as he had been drinking at a concert earlier that evening.

Meanwhile, earlier when the proceedings got under way, judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng remarked about the fiery exchange between Zandi and defence advocate Zithulele Nxumalo.

On Monday, Zandi’s emotions ran high during her cross-examination with Nxumalo, leading to a fiery exchange. 

“Please watch your tone when you talk to me. I am not your wife, I am someone’s wife. Tone down.” she said.

Commenting on the incident, Mokgoatlheng said: “I let it pass because I wanted people to think about it. There is no necessity for us not to respect each other, more particularly in a case as televised as this one. I expect the council and witnesses to keep the deference, the dignity, the decorum of this court at all times, please, we are all adults we just have to address each other deferentially, we know what it takes to speak to each other as adults, please,” he said.”

Cross-examination will begin on Wednesday.

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