The controversial second docket, which recommends charging those who were present in the house when former Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa was killed, has brought the Senzo Meyiwa trial to a halt.
According to Defense Advocate for the fifth accused, Zandile Mshololo, the existence of such a document means there are “conflicting interests” in the matter.
The second docket, Vosloorus 375/01/2019, opened 5 years after the incident recommended Longwe Twala, Kelly Khumalo, Gladness Khumalo, Zandi Khumalo, Tumelo Madlala, Mthokozisi Twala and Maggie Phiri be charged. #SABCNews #SenzoMeyiwaTrial pic.twitter.com/5EyF4ikXgD
— Sipho King K Kekana (@KingKAzania) June 8, 2022
She has told the court she is unable to continue with the cross-examination of the first state witness Thabo Mosia because she would like to cross-examine him on the contents of the second affidavit deposed by Mosia in 2019, which is contained in the second docket.
“I cannot continue with cross-examination because the second docket makes references to statement I would like to cross-examine the witness regarding … I cannot continue with this cross-examination without reading the whole document where this statement is contained.”
She has accused the state of continuously violating the rights of his client Sifisokuhle Ntuli. This is because, she claims, “firstly the state only revealed key witness statements two weeks before the start of the trial and now making available the second docket only after the trial had started.”
Mshololo: “And this is the second violation of accused 5’s rights because … only two weeks before the trial were the witnesses disclosed to us and now a whole docket is disclosed during the trial.”#SenzoMeyiwaTrial #SABCNews #SenzoMeyiwa pic.twitter.com/vWF8avCvoo
— Sipho King K Kekana (@KingKAzania) June 8, 2022
She says this has prejudiced her client and compromised his ability to prepare his defence. “The non-disclosure of such a document violated the right of my clients … in order to prepare his defense,” she laments.
According to the docket, Vosloorus 375/01/2019 almost fives years after the incident, only Longwe Twala, Kelly Khumalo, Gladness Khumalo, Zandi Khumalo, Tumelo Madlala, Mthokozisi Thwala and Maggie Phiri should be charged with murder and defeating the ends of justice.
In it, Twala is named as Accused No. 1 and is suspected to have pulled the trigger, while Khumalo should be charged with defeating the ends of justice and for “hatching a plan to claim they were robbed by unknown gunmen,” and Phiri is accused of “cleaning up the crime scene before the police arrived.”
Meyiwa’s trial postponed to Monday following emergence of a second docket:
It is understood the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) has not moved to charge anyone based on the second docket, and only moved to prosecution on the basis of the first docket with the version that gunmen had entered the house, demanded cell phones, and shot Meyiwa following a scuffle.
Earlier this week, the court heard that one of the first witnesses to arrive on the scene after Meyiwa was shot found water on the floor and saw neighbour, Maggie Phiri picking up empty beer cans from the floor because “she didn’t want the police to see that the people in the house were drinking alcohol.”
After insisting that the crime scene had not been tampered with, Mosia eventually admitted in court that he had found no blood stains on the kitchen floor. This is despite having led testimony that Meyiwa was shot in the kitchen and it was alleged that he had bled a lot.
“The only blood swabs we took were from the kitchen wall. And more blood was from the floor of the sitting room,” revealed Mosia.
The court also heard, through a sworn statement, that witnesses who arrived on the scene shortly after the shooting incident, had found water on the floor, which advocate Zandile Mshololo used to argue that the scene had been “cleaned” up before Mosia could arrive.
“Maggie Phiri suggested we should clean the house before the police could arrive. We ignored her and she continued to pack empty bottles of beer and we left Magie Phiri behind busy picking up the empties,” reads the statement in part.
The trial has been adjourned momentarily.
