Ballistics expert will lead evidence on gun linked to Senzo Meyiwa’s death

The versions of eyewitnesses who were present when Senzo Meyiwa was murdered in a Vosloorus home on October 26 2014 do not correlate with autopsy findings by the pathologist.

On Tuesday defence lawyer advocate Charles Mnisi started his cross-examination in the Pretoria high court by putting two contradicting versions of eyewitnesses to Dr Johannes Steenekamp.

Quoting the eyewitness's versions Mnisi pointed out that one version was that Meyiwa wrestled with the second unarmed intruder, with the gunman behind him, while the other version indicated he was facing a door while the gunman faced him, back towards the door.

“That would not make sense,” said Steenekamp.

He said his findings indicated Meyiwa was not shot from the back but from the front.

According to Steenekamp, the version that the gunshot went off when Meyiwa was fighting with the unarmed intruder while the armed one was behind him was not consistent with his findings.

He has testified that after being shot, Meyiwa likely lived only for seconds or minutes. “In this case he probably would have survived seconds, minutes definitely [but] not hours,” he said.

Meyiwa was with his girlfriend Kelly Khumalo at her mother Ntombi's home in Vosloorus. They were relaxing, having earlier had lunch,  and were watching a soccer match with Kelly's sister Zandile, her then-boyfriend, Longwe Twala and two of Meyiwa's friends.  The occupants of the house told police two robbers entered, demanding cash and cellphones, before Meyiwa was shot in a scuffle with one intruder.

Steenekamp said the cause of death was consistent with a bullet wound in the chest involving the heart and lung.

He said Meyiwa suffered blood loss.

Steenekamp said his examination revealed Meyiwa's right chest cavity contained 1,700ml of free and clotted blood. “That's internal blood loss from the heart as well as the lungs in that area, flowing to the chest cavity and resulting in the left lung collapsing,” he said.

Focusing on the possibility the scene was cleaned, after being probed on whether there should have been blood where Meyiwa lay, Steenekamp said where Meyiwa lay on his back there would have been blood on the floor.

When advocate Zandile Mshololo asked if transporting Meyiwa on a stretcher rather than in a private car would have made a difference, Steenkamp said it would not.

“It was a fatal wound and he would have survived seconds or minutes,” said Steenekamp.

Attorney Sipho Ramosepele probed Steenekamp on why Meyiwa's clothes were not analysed for further investigation.

Steenekamp said: “It was not significant.”

The trial will continue on Wednesday when the state will call a ballistics expert as its next witness.

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