Africa-Press – South-Africa. Former Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa was not rushed to hospital so his life could be saved after he was shot, but he was already dead and the intention was to “dump” his body at the mortuary.
During the trial into Meyiwa’s murder, defence advocate Malesela Teffo put it to forensic fieldworker Sergeant Thabo Mosia that a defence witness will testify to this.
Teffo was cross-examining Mosia in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, where Muzikawukhulelwa S’Tembu Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthobisi Prince Mncube, Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa and Fisokuhle Ntuli are on trial for the murder.
He represents four of the accused.
Initially, he questioned why Mosia did not photograph Meyiwa’s body in the hospital after it emerged that he had succumbed to his injuries.
Mosia responded that his job was to collect evidence from the scene. He added that in any event, he could not photograph the body while it was still in the hospital.
Teffo then asserted that the crime scene was contaminated because Meyiwa had been taken to the hospital.
WATCH | Senzo Meyiwa murder trial continues
Mosia previously testified that he was told that Meyiwa was rushed to hospital by people who were in the house at the time he was shot.
Teffo claimed it was illegal because they did not have medical training.
The advocate then put it to Mosia that a witness will testify that Meyiwa was already dead when he was transported to hospital by his girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo.
Teffo added:
He said the witness would testify that Meyiwa was declared dead at 21:15.
The State objected to this line of questioning and asked who the witness was and in what capacity the person would testify on Meyiwa’s time of death.
But Teffo would not disclose the identity of any of his witnesses because their lives are under threat.
Mosia reiterated that he could only answer questions relating to the evidence he collected at the crime scene.
Discrepancies
Earlier, Teffo presented a statement that Mosia gave to an investigating officer who was reportedly investigating Meyiwa’s death under a different case number.
Mosia was the first forensic investigator to arrive on the scene and in the statement, he said the crime scene could have been compromised.
Teffo said this was in contradiction to his evidence-in-chief that the crime scene had not been contaminated before he arrived.
But Mosia testified that he meant that there could have been disturbances that were not deliberate, given that a number of hours had passed after Meyiwa had been shot and his arrival at the scene.
There was also a lot of back and forth between Teffo and Mosia on whether former Gauteng head of detectives Brigadier Philani Ndlovu had instructed Mosia to go to the crime scene, police station or hospital where Meyiwa was taken.
This emerged because Mosia’s second statement does not mention that Ndlovu ordered him to go to the police station, even though he stated that in his evidence-in-chief.
Mosia further testified that after he went to the police station, he went to the hospital because the police officers who were going to direct him to the crime scene were there.
Teffo said that Mosia was trying to cover up for blunders that occurred at the crime scene before his arrival.
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