Constable Sizwe Zungu, the police officer who placed all the five accused in the Senzo Meyiwa trial at a hostel in Vosloorus on the day the former Orlando Pirates goalkeeper was killed, faces a longer-than-anticipated amount of time on the witness stand. This as the trial has been postponed to October 2 to allow the defence to consult further with their clients upon receipt of more than 700 photos downloaded from the accused’s phones.
On Wednesday, Advocate Charles Mnisi told the court that he could not continue with his cross-examination until he was in possession of all the pictures downloaded by the state. This came after the witness had told the court that accused 3, Mthobisi Mncube, had at one point on October 26, 2014, worn a lime t-shirt and a necklace at the hostel.
However, among the pictures presented in court, taken on the same day, Mncube could not be seen wearing the lime t-shirt and the necklace.
This prompted the defence to request the master copy of the downloads and the cell phones, which the state has now confirmed were handed to the defence later in the day.
Subsequently, the defence requested the court for a postponement to be afforded time to go through the hundreds of pictures and prepare for further cross-examination of Zungu.
Sipho Ramosepele for accuseds 1 and 2, who had already concluded his cross-examination of the witness, is expected to reopen his cross-examination for the second time, after having initially done so earlier this week.
Judge: Mr Zungu, unfortunately you shall have to return again. Will you be able to return again?
Zungu: Yes.#SABCNews #SenzoMeyiwatrial #SenzoMeyiwa
— Sipho King K Kekana (@KingKAzania) September 14, 2023
Zungu, who is under heavy police guard, will remain in witness protection until then.
Judge: Once we commence on the 2nd of October the defence must also be ready to commence with the cross-examination of Christian Mangena (Ballistic expert).#SABCNews #SenzoMeyiwatrial #SenzoMeyiwa
— Sipho King K Kekana (@KingKAzania) September 14, 2023
During Sipho Ramosepele’s reopened cross-examination, the court heard how Zungu was related to the accused who was in fact accused 2, Bongani Ntanzi, who says the first time he saw his possible cousin was last when he gave testimony in court.
Zungu, who is under heavy police protection, says he knows all accused before the court, being well-acquainted with accuseds 1 and 2 who he says were at the hostel the night Meyiwa shot.
Ramosepele: Is it still your assertion that accused 2 is your cousin?
Zungu: I did mention that my grandmother is from the Ntanzi. And if he is from the Ntanzi then it means we are related. Unless he is disputing that he is Zungu: Ntanzi.
Ramosepele: He doesn’t dispute that he’s Ntanzi. In fact, he says your father and his father are cousins.
Zungu: That’s how I also know it.
Ramosepele: Accused 2 says he’s never met you before and he’s only seen you last week when you came to testify.
Zungu: (laughs) If you are denied by relatives at times you must just accept it.
On Monday, the judge dismissed the defence’s assertion that the state was withholding a crucial handwritten statement by Zungu, which they argued, if made available, would reveal more inconsistencies in his evidence.
The defence contended that the witness had made mention of a handwritten statement, which he had initiated and had been commissioned, which he used when he made the final statement which was read out in court. This is about the night Zungu says he saw the five accused return back to the hostel in Vosloorus at about 9 in the evening carrying guns – an incident which would later dawn on him that the accused could have been returning from the killing of the former Orlando Pirates goalkeeper.
Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng says the court viewed the accusations in a serious light but did not believe that Baloyi would, not at the risk of his own career as a prosecutor, not disclose such information.
“Every prosecutor knows he has to disclose and I do not think that Mr. Baloyi would risk his entire career. I don’t know what he would gain. It is not his duty to defend. His duty is to bring the case before the court to adjudicate. It is a truism and trite in the law that a prosecutor’s duty is to seek conviction at all costs. His duty is to bring a case before the court. If he thinks it is his duty to seek conviction then he doesn’t know his duty. Even if there is a statement that brings contradictions to the state’s case he has the duty to bring such information before the court,” says Mokgoatlheng.
Despite what the witness are mistakes with the names of the accused in his statement in relation to the events that took place at the hostel on that night, Zungu has maintained his version as true that all the five accused were in Vosloorus on that night, about 4 and a half kilometres from where Meyiwa was shot and killed.
The trial will continue on October 2.
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