Senzo was dead in Kelly's vehicle, Khumalo neighbour tells court

Footballer Senzo Meyiwa was already dead when he was loaded into a vehicle and driven to hospital by his girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo. This is according to a statement made on October 27 2014 by a neighbour of the Khumalos who is the state's third witness, Nthabiseng Mokete.    

“On arrival at Kelly's house we found Senzo was deceased in Kelly's vehicle. He was taken to Botshelong Hospital for treatment as he was shot. On arrival, Senzo was taken to casualty. After some minutes the doctor called me and informed me that Senzo had passed away on arrival,” read the statement.

Meyiwa had been shot dead while visiting at Kelly's mother's house. He was in the presence of Kelly, her sister Zandile, their mother, Zandile's then-boyfriend Longwe Twala and two of Meyiwa's friends who were visiting from KwaZulu-Natal. 

The version of the house occupants was that Meyiwa was fatally wounded after a scuffle with one of two men who had entered the house, demanding valuables.

Five men are on trial in the high court in Pretoria for the murder. 

Mokete, who claimed to have seen three men running from the direction of the Khumalo house shortly after she heard three gun shots go off, was on Wednesday questioned by defence attorney Sipho Ramosepele. 

He wanted to find out whether the three were connected to the shooting.

Mokete had earlier told the court that she was living at her sister Maggy Phiri's place and that on that night she had been sitting with a friend in a car parked outside their yard when she heard a loud noise which she said sounded like a gunshot.

Mokete said that from her vantage point in the back of her friend's car she could see three men running. The first man she saw running after the first shot around 8pm.

Two others followed.

In her testimony, she said as she was debating with her friend about whether the “bang sound” she heard was indeed a gunshot, another went off.

She said the second sounded closer to the vehicle. 

“After that, two people went past, running in the same direction as the first person,” she said.

She testified that she heard three gunshots. She said it wasn't dark outside.

As Ramosepele analysed her testimony, Mokete clarified that after the first bang about 10 to 15 minutes passed before another bang was heard.

When asked if she saw anyone else run after the third gunshot, she said no.

She said the time lapse between the second and the last shots was short, estimated it to be seconds.

Putting a proposition to Mokete, Ramosepele said the three males that she saw after the gunshots went off may not have been connected to each other, and they may not have even known each other.

“I am unsure about that,” Mokete said.

Further, Ramosepele said, the two men may also have been running for their safety after the gunshots.

She said she couldn't see the men's faces. She also couldn't say from where they came.

When asked if she knew why they were running, she said, “No, I don't know why they were running.”

She confirmed that she didn't see the direction the men took when they got to the park where the road splits.

“When you get there the road splits, what I am sure of is that he didn't run to the left, I don't know if he went into the park or went to the right side,” she said.

Mokete confirmed that she did not take notice of the men's clothing except for one whom she said was wearing a hoodie.

Ramosepele referred to statements made by Mokete in 2014 and 2019 as he analysed her testimony against Zandile Khumalo's version, pointing out versions that did not corroborate.

In her testimony, Zandile said she froze and couldn't dial 10111. She said she ran to Maphiri's house where she passed Mokete in the car and ran straight inside the yard where she met Maphiri next to a washing line.

Mokete told the court that Zandile screamed from her home while still inside the yard, calling for her to call an ambulance while she ran towards her.

However, after reiterating her own version she said, “That is her evidence, I cannot speak on her behalf.”

Before silently tearing up, she told the court how the doctors tried to resuscitate Meyiwa before they told her he was “no more”.

When asked if she could identify the men, she said no as she didn't see their faces, only their physiques.

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