By Jonisayi Maromo | IOL News |
The prosecution in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial is on Monday expected to call its first witness to the stand as five men face charges of killing the Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper in 2014.
The State’s first witness, a police photographer, is expected to give evidence in the high-stakes murder trial which has not been solved for almost eight years now.
The police official is expected to present a photo album and sketch plan of the Vosloorus house where Meyiwa was murdered in cold-blood on October 26, 2014.
On Friday, the five men arrested by the South African Police Service (SAPS) in connection with the murder all pleaded not guilty to the crime.
They are Muzikawukhulelwa Sthemba Sibiya, 34; Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, 30; Mthobisi Prince Ncube, 36; Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa, 35 and Sifisokuhle Ntuli, aged 32.
The accused have opted not to provide plea explanations, but to remain silent and allow the State to prove its case.
Lead prosecutor in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, Advocate George Baloyi formally presented the charges to the accused.
They include premeditated murder, attempted murder for shooting at Zandile Khumalo, who was shot at during the alleged robbery; robbery with aggravating circumstances in that the accused allegedly assaulted both Kelly Khumalo and her mother before stealing an S4 Samsung cellphone; possession of an illegal firearm; and possession of ammunition.
Sibiya, Ntanzi, Ncube and Maphisa are represented by advocate Malesela Teffo, while Ntuli is being represented by advocate Zandile Mshololo.
Meyiwa was killed while visiting his girlfriend and the mother of his child, singer Kelly Khumalo, in Vosloorus in Gauteng.
In the house that fateful day were Meyiwa, Kelly and her younger sister, Zandile, their mother Ntombi Khumalo, Longwe Twala, Meyiwa’s friends Mthokozisi Thwala and Tumelo Madlala, Kelly’s then 4-year-old son, Christian, and Thingo, her daughter with Meyiwa.
On Friday, attorney Magdalene Moonsamy, representing Kelly Khumalo on a watching brief in the trial, said her client was ready to come to court and testify on what she knows about the 2014 murder.
“If the prosecution requires her as a witness in court … she is a witness in the matter and she has been compliant and cooperative in the matter,” Moonsamy told news channel eNCA ahead of the resumption of the trial.
“So if she is required to be present in court then she will be.”
