Defence in Meyiwa Trial not prepared for new witness, trial postponed

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The Senzo Meyiwa murder trial has been postponed to Thursday. This after the state called a police officer, Constable Zungu to the witness stand to testify on the contents of a statement which the defence was only furnished with on Tuesday.

The defence, unhappy that they had not been afforded sufficient time to prepare, came short of accusing the state of “prosecutorial misconduct” saying they needed the whole day to consult with their clients.

The defence says the witness statement was only given to them yesterday and they’ve not consulted on it.

The State says this is an irregularity.

The judge says the defence ought to have been furnished with the statement timeously.#SABCNews #SenzoMeyiwatrial #SenzoMeyiwa

— Sipho King K Kekana (@KingKAzania) September 6, 2023

The state says they were only furnished with the statement yesterday by the investigating team, explaining further that the witness’ name did not appear on the witness list for security reasons.

Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng has pointed out that he was constrained to allow the proceedings to continue under the circumstances, saying that would infringe on the constitutional rights of the accused.

Yesterday, things heated up in the post-lunch proceedings as a new witness in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial dropped a bombshell in his evidence-in-chief, and then made a complete 180 degrees u-turn under cross-examination.

Jack Buthelezi, who is accused 2 Bongani Ntanzi’s friend, told the high court in Pretoria that Ntanzi had told him he was arrested for illegal possession of ammunition and for killing the former Bafana Bafana captain.

However, under cross-examination, Buthelezi changed his tune, saying the Ntanzi had said it was the police who said he and his friends had killed the football star.

Meyiwa was shot and killed at his former girlfriend Kelly Khumalo’s home when two intruder allegedly stormed into the house before a scuffle broke.

The trial will continue tomorrow.

Senzo Meyiwa Murder Trial | Witness drops a bombshell and then makes a u-turn: Sipho Kekana