LIVE BLOG | SENZO MEYIWA MURDER TRIAL
It's day 3 of Mthokozisi Thwala’s testimony in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, which is currently underway in the North Gauteng high court in Pretoria. Thwala’s been testifying in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial since Tuesday. He was with the late goalkeeper when he was shot and killed in an alleged botched house robbery at singer Kelly Khumalo’s childhood home in October 2014. Khumalo was Meyiwa’s girlfriend at the time.
The trial is expected to run from May 2 to May 26 and to reconvene again from June 5 to June 15.
Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela has just arrived in the courtroom. The Senzo Meyiwa murder trial is now underway. - Jeanette Chabalala
10:25 - Mthokozisi Thwala is currently on the stand. This is his third day on the hot seat. On Wednesday he told the Pretoria high court that he was assaulted by cops in January 2019. Thwala was allegedly taken by police from Umlazi in KwaZulu-Natal to Johannesburg under the pretense that he was going to point out suspects arrested in connection with Meyiwa's murder. - Jeanette Chabalala
10:29 - Thwala tells the court that he opened a case against the cops that allegedly tortured him. The case was referred to IPID. He adds that its been four years already and he hasn't received any feedback about the case. - Jeanette Chabalala
10:38 - State advocate Baloyi has requested to hand over some documents to the court. He now goes through the documents with Thwala. He asks if there was any blood sample taken from Thwala. Thwala says he doesn't remember - Jeanette Chabalala
10:41 - Adv Baloyi asks Thwala to tell the court about a Netflix documentary. He says he was approched by Mzilikazi, who was part of the team. "He said he wanted to meet with me and we were chatting via WhatsApp but I was refusing," Thwala says. - Jeanette Chabalala
10:43 - Thwala: I then refused [ to meet with Mzilikazi]. Thereafter I was approached by a lady. She came to my home. Thwala says this happened two years ago. He adds that the lady came visited him at his home to explain that the documentary was about Senzo Meyiwa - Jeanette Chabalala
10:46 - Thwala says he explained his reasons for refusing to be part of the documentary. "She then said that would be hurtful because there are people who had already agreed to do the documentary [including] Senzo's relatives. All those people mentioned my name and the relationship I had with Senzo." Thwala says after thinking about it, he still refused to do the documentary. - Jeanette Chabalala
10:48 - Thwala mentions that another woman approached him and even met his family. The woman explained why it was important for Thwala to be part of the documentary. Still, he refused. - Jeanette Chabalala
Thwala says the reasons he was given were not valid enough for him to be part of the Netflix documentary. - Jeanette Chabalala
Thwala says the documentary team asked him for pictures of him with Senzo and even offered to pay. - Jeanette Chabalala
11:00 - Advocate Baloyi now takes Thwala back to the scene of the incident. He then asks him to look at a photo. - Jeanette Chabalala
Baloyi asks Thwala to explain how everyone who was in the house where Meyiwa was shot and killed, were sitting before the incident.
11:10 - State advocate Baloyi asks Thwala if he also bought alcohol when they went to Kelly Khumalo's home in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni. Thwala: Yes. Baloyi: What were you drinking? Thwala: Hunters Gold - Jeanette Chabalala
Court adjourns for a tea break
11:40 - Court session resumes
11:45 - Baloyi asks Thwala to describe the hat worn by one of the suspects and shows him a picture of a hat from the crime scene however Thwala is unable to positively confirm that the hat on the image is was worn by suspect as its facing up. - Zingisa Chirwa
Baloyi informs the court that he will afford Thwala an opportunity to explain the inconsistencies in his statement however the defence objects saying the state cannot cross-examine its own witness. - Zingisa Chirwa
Baloyi references a section of the criminal procedure act to support his decision to allow Thwala to explain inconsistencies in his testimony. - Zingisa Chirwa
12:23 - Court adjourns for lunch to allow defence lawyers an opportunity to go through commentary referenced by Baloyi - Zingisa Chirwa
13:43 - Court session resumes
Adv. Nxumalo insists that the witness has testified therefore it is up to the defence to cross-examine him based on the evidence provided. He adds that allowing the state to address the witness' inconsistencies will limit the defence's cross-examination. - Zingisa Chirwa
Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela questions Nxumalo on how allowing Adv Balyoi to correct the inconsistencies will limit the defence. Nxumalo indicates that if the witness (Thwala) is questioned by the defence on similar matters, he could just say he's already addressed that. - Zingisa Chirwa
14:00 - Adv Baloyi says his request is to clarify certain aspects of the testimony and wont be as far reaching as suggested by the defence lawyers. - Zingisa Chirwa
Judge Maumela allows Baloyi to address inconsistencies. - Zingisa Chirwa
Adv Baloyi asks if the intruder was wearing a jacket, Thwala says a a jacket or a hoodie. - Zingisa Chirwa
Thwala also clarifies that Kelly Khumalo drove the vehicle to hospital with occupants Zandi Khumalo, Tumelo Madlala and himself …with Senzo Meyiwa. Therefore the 5th person being referred to is Meyiwa. - Zingisa Chirwa
14:50 - Lawyer Sipho Ramosepele begins cross-examination and questions Thwala on the alcohol consumed by the occupants of the house before the incident. - Zingisa Chirwa
Ramosepele asks what happened to the empty alcohol and cans and suggests that a neighbour cleaned up the empty cans therefore tampering with evidence. Thwala responds that the neighbour will have to respond to the accusation. - Zingisa Chirwa
Thwala adds that he did not take note of how the cans were situated when they left for the hospital as some of the alcohol was still in the fridge. - Zingisa Chirwa
Court is adjourned until Friday.