By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The murder trial of former Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates captain Senzo Meyiwa was rescheduled by the Pretoria High Court for April 14 in order to allow defence lawyer Charles Mnisi more time to prepare for the cross-examination.
The trial was expected to resume at the High Court in Pretoria this morning.
Mnisi, now representing accused number 1, Muzi Sibiya, was expected to begin cross-examining the state’s last witness, lead investigator Bongani Gininda.
Mnisi also represents accused number 3.
He had requested a two-week postponement to prepare for his cross-examination of Gininda, after taking over as Sibiya’s defence attorney last month.
Sibiya’s lawyer Thulani Mngomezulu, passed away in December after a prolonged illness.
During the proceedings, Mnisi asked the court to further postpone the case so he could have more time to go over the case record and make other arrangements.
“I am unfortunately not in a position to proceed because I am not yet done with my preparation,” Mnisi told the court.
“The time that I had was almost a week and two days; it was very limited compared to the amount of work and the scope that I need to cover.”
George Baloyi, the state prosecutor advocate, said that in the long run, the court may be saving more time by allowing Mnisi to get ready through the postponement.
“So that when we resume, we can have no further stoppages,” Baloyi said.
The other defence lawyers all agreed that Mnisi needed more time to prepare when they had a chance to comment on the postponement.
“We all have practices; we have to go and make commitments. If he is given a longer period, we will come back the next time, and everyone will be ready to proceed,” said defence counsel for accused number five, advocate Zandile Mshololo.
The presiding judge, Ratha Mokgoatlheng, stated that he will put the case on hold and follow Mshololo’s advice until Mnisi is prepared to cross-examine Gininda.
Mokgoatlheng later apologised to affected families and the public for the postponement.