Defence denies communication between Khumalo, accused in Meyiwa trial

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The defence in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial has denied that there was communication between the soccer star’s then-girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo and accused number three, Mthobisi Mncube.

This was contained in one of the two alleged confessions of accused number two Bongani Ntanzi which also implicated Khumalo as the person who allegedly ordered the hit.

Defence lawyer Thulani Mngomezulu, pointing to two numbers allegedly attached to Khumalo, has argued that there was no contact between the two, specifically on the day that Meyiwa was killed on 26 October 2014.

However, the State sought to challenge this, stating that previous evidence indicated that Khumalo had eight cell phones.

“Here are numbers (ending 358) and (ending 498) those are numbers for Kelly Khumalo, and I have an affidavit by Kelly Khumalo to say those were the numbers she was using on the day Senzo was killed. That’s just background. I put it to you that there was no communication between Kelly Khumalo and accused 3, looking at those numbers, you find no communication specifically on the 26th (day of killing),” says Mngomezulu.

“There are more than 300 pages here it’s not a click of a button,” says Gouws

“Let’s stand that down, I will give you an opportunity to go through those pages,” replies Mngomezulu.

Mngomezulu also believes that Gouw’s evidence was not helpful to the court.

“I will argue at a later stage that the evidence you presented before this court from 2018 to 2021 is irrelevant in this court in the sense that there is no communication which you have placed on record through SMS or WhatsApp that constitutes or has elements of a particular offence, meaning there is no communication that you can prove to this court that these accused persons knew each other for wrongful purposes especially in relation to death of Senzo Meyiwa, meaning you can’t prove guilty mind in this communication of these accused persons,”

Video: Senzo Meyiwa Murder Trial – 23 May 2024