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‘Are you guys even aware what you guys did to our lives’ : Khumalo to the accused

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“Are you guys even aware of what you guys did to our lives,” cried state witness, Zandile Khumalo, as she got the post-lunch proceedings at the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial in Pretoria, off to a tense start.  Accused No: 2 Bongani Ntanzi once again became the center of attention in court at the North Gauteng High Court, when Khumalo pointed him out as one of the alleged two intruders who entered the house moments before former Orlando Pirates goalkeeper, Senzo Meyiwa, was shot and killed.

And sitting in the dock, all five accused, chuckled, while Ntanzi stared at her and smiled.

And they chuckled even more when Khumalo broke down, taking deep breaths, teary-eyed, asked if the accused were aware of what they had put her family through.

“Are you guys even aware of what you did to our family on that day. The damage that you guys did,” asked Khumalo.

At this point, the judge intervened and told Khumalo she was not allowed to speak to the accused.

In a day that started with the court dismissing the application to ban the live broadcast of Khumalo’s witness, she has become the first witness who was in the house to tell the court that there were three shots fired the night Meyiwa was killed.

According to Khumalo, the first shot went off while she was in the kitchen with Tumelo Madlala to her right, and her sister Kelly helping Meyiwa who was fighting the first intruder with the gun next to the kitchen door towards the cupboard, while her mother was fighting the alleged second intruder, also next to the door, but towards the sink.

Khumalo says she heard the sound of the shot, followed by the sound of the bullet hitting the tiles on the floor, while she felt something hit her leg. She says it was at this point that she ran into the bathroom, while Madlala ran into one of the bedrooms.

It was while she was in the bedroom, she says, that she heard the second shot and the third shot which sounded different to the first two shots.

“Then it went quiet. I then reached for the door handle and peeped through the door while I was still squatting in the bathroom,” says Khumalo.

Demonstrating how she peeped through the door from bathroom, in a squatting position, Khumalo says she could see the entire passage up to the sitting room and the only thing that can’t be seen from that position is the kitchen.

As she demonstrated, there were chuckles could be heard from the accused in the dock, with accused 2, smiling.

Madlala, during his testimony only spoke about one shot, while Mthokozisi Thwala told the court that he could have heard the second shot when he ran out of the house after the first shot and never said anything about the third shot.

Khumalo has also contradicted Madlala’s evidence that she (Zandi), together with her mom and Kelly, were busy assaulting the alleged first intruder with the gun, with his crutches, while he (Madlala) was helping Meyiwa fight the taller intruder. According to Madlala, Meyiwa was holding the alleged taller intruder up, while the former Bafana Bafana star pressed him against the wall, before he (Madlala) punched the alleged intruder in the face.

Khumalo has today told the court, Madlala was next two her, and that it was Kelly who was next to Meyiwa who was not fighting the alleged taller intruder, but the alleged intruder with the gun.

The musician has also told the court that she had in fact tried to assault one of the intruders with one of Madlala’s crutches but could not reach him before Madlala grabbed the crutch from her hand.

It has now been on two occasion that witness did a dock identification of the alleged second intruder who allegedly entered the house on 26 October 2014, but the court is yet to hear, who of the five accused could have been the alleged first intruder with the gun.

Thwala in her testimony would not link any of the accused to the crime that took place at the Khumalo household on that night.

Under cross-examination by Advocate Zandile Mshololo, Thwala, told the court that his description of the intruders, which informed the drawing of the identikit of the alleged intruders, had not led to the arrest of anyone even though it could still be useful in the future.

That was the second time Thwala had made a veiled direct reference to the accused and his position on them. The first time was under cross-examination by Advocate Zithulele Nxumalo, when he was asked, “Is it true that you have not said anything about accused 4’s involvement in the crime?”

In response, Thwala, said, “I have not said anything about anyone’s involvement.”

In 2020, Muzi Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthobisi Prince Mncube, Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa, and Fisokuhle Ntuli were charged with Meyiwa’s murder, attempted murder of other witnesses, robbery with aggravating circumstances, unlawful possession of a firearm, and possession of ammunition.

They have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

 

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