Africa-Press – South-Africa. The so-called second docket on the murder of former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper, Senzo Meyiwa, in which the identified suspects allegedly included his girlfriend Kelly Khumalo and her mother, was initially only disclosed to advocate Malesela Teffo and not the prosecution.
This was revealed in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday where advocate Zandile Mshololo, who represents one of the five men accused of killing Meyiwa, asked for a postponement to study the second docket.
Existence of two cases
Knowledge of the existence of two different dockets pertaining to the same incident were in the public domain before the trial started.
In the first case, which is currently before court, Muzikawukhulelwa S’Tembu Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthobisi Prince Mncube, Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa, and Fisokuhle Ntuli are the accused.
The men are accused of playing a role in the murder of Meyiwa, who was shot in Khumalo’s home in Vosloorus, Boksburg on 26 October 2014.
Senzo Meyiwa trial: Defence claims woman was seen cleaning house after shooting
Teffo, who represents four of the accused, introduced the existence of the second case to the court during cross-examination. He handed up a draft arraignment document by the National Prosecuting Authority as evidence that the scene had been tampered with.
He explained that there were two cases being investigated on the same incident. In the one, was the accused he’s representing and the other, the suspects were allegedly those in the house at the time of the shooting.
Teffo further told the court that while both cases related to Meyiwa’s murder, they had different investigating teams which made different findings in respect to what had transpired and who was responsible.
State prosecutor, advocate George Baloyi, objected to the document being handed in, citing that it was a draft document and “never saw the light of day”.
He added that it did not have any evidentiary value, but that the prosecution would lead evidence in that regard at a later stage.
Postponement
On Wednesday, Mshololo cited the second case as the reason for requesting a postponement as she had just received the second docket and wanted to study it before continuing with her cross-examination of the State’s first witness, Sergeant Thabo Mosia.
Mosia had also deposed an affidavit to the second case, but testified that he did not know it was for a different case at the time. Mshololo told the court that she had only received the second case docket in the morning.
She also told the court that the suspects identified in the second case were Khumalo, her mother Gladness, her sister Zandi, Meyiwa’s two friends, Tumelo Madlala and Mthokozisi Thwala, Zandi’s boyfriend Longwe Thwala and Maggie Phiri.
Mshololo informed the court that the suspects were to be charged with murder and defeating the ends of justice.
The court previously heard that Phiri was found cleaning the scene by two witnesses after Meyiwa was shot. Mshololo said she would also need a letter for the Deputy Public Prosecutor confirming the status quo of the case that was not currently before court.
She also incorrectly told the court that the suspects identified in the second docket had been charged. Mshololo then slammed the State, accusing Baloyi of violating her clients’ rights to prepare for trial because of the non-disclosure of the docket.
Disclosure of second docket
Baloyi told the court that in March, he dispatched a letter to the investigating team of the second docket, requesting the full docket as he knew it would feature prominently in the trial.
However, “for reasons unknown” to Baloyi, the second docket was only disclosed to Teffo and not to the prosecution. He then asked the investigating team in the case currently before court to get the docket, but they were also unsuccessful.
Baloyi said the docket only landed on his table on Wednesday morning and gave a copy to Mshololo.
The trial was postponed to 13 June, where it is expected that a further postponement would be granted as the court looks for time on the court roll to allocate the matter for further trial.
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