By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Defence lawyers in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial continued to cross-examine state’s first witness Zandile Khumalo as the case resumed in the High Court in Pretoria.
Khumalo on Friday, refused during cross-examination at the Gauteng High Court, in Pretoria, to demonstrate how one of the intruders wore a hoodie.
She denied the request of defence lawyer Advocate Charles Mnisi because it will ruin her “beautiful hairstyle” which she had “worked very hard” on in the morning.
This follows Zandile’s initial response in which cheekily told Mnisi: “You can also wear it, I will show you”.
Mnisi explained the rules of the court did not allow him to do so.
Zandile was one of six people who were present when Meyiwa was gunned down on 26 October 2014, in what has been described as a botched robbery at the Vosloorus home of the Khumalos.
The five men on trial for Meyiwa’s murder – Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthobisi Prince Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Sifisokuhle Nkani Ntuli – have all pleaded not guilty.
Advocate Zithulele Nxumalo told Khumalo that there were inconsistencies in her testimony because the evidence suggested that there was no robbery.
“There were no intruders. The deceased was shot by one of the people in the house,” Nxumalo put to her.
Khumalo responded quickly and never even waited for the interpreter to finish translating.
“All statements and key points I made is that people came in, we fought them, Longwe went out. I came to court and repeated the same. I dispute what you are saying. What you are saying doesn’t exist,” she said.
Nxumalo also read into the record three statements Khumalo had given to the police to highlight discrepancies.
One was given the day after the incident, the second one was given in November 2014, and the last was given in February 2018.
“In your first and second statements, you make no mention of the features of the first intruder,” Nxumalo said.
Khumalo responded that she gave all the information to the police and could not account for what the police had chosen to omit.
The lawyer added, In one of the statements, you were in the bathroom and found Senzo lying on the kitchen floor bleeding. In the other statement, you say you saw Senzo leaning on the wall next to the couch and TV stand. Which one is it?
In response, Khumalo said the counsel was referring to additional statements police had asked her to give and said there were no contradictions.
Judge Ratha Mokgoatlgeng asked Nxumalo to be clear and to say if he was implying that the deceased could have shot himself.
However, he said he wasn’t suggesting that, and added that one of the people in the house had shot Meyiwa.
Advocate Zandile Mshololo, who represents accused number five in the trial, Mthokoziseni Maphisa, began her cross-examination of Khumalo.
“The reason why you’re failing to give a full description of the head of the second suspect, including the colour of the hoodie that the suspect was wearing, is because there was no second suspect. Your are fabricating the story,’ said Mshololo.
Mshololo’s comments come after Khumalo could not recall what colour hoodie suspect number two was wearing.
This is despite her being able to identify suspect number two, Bongani Ntanzi, as one of the two intruders who allegedly burst into the Khumalo household on the day of Meyiwa’s death.
“There’s no way you can be able to look at the face of the person and be unable to describe the type of the hat that the witness is wearing,” added Mshololo.
When questioned on the clothing Meyiwa wore on that day, Khumalo could perfectly described what he was wearing.
She told court that Meyiwa was wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt.
But when Khumalo was questioned what her sister Kelly, her mother MaKhumalo and others were wearing, she could not recall.
“And what were the two intruders wearing?” questioned Mshololo.
“I looked at their faces and not what they we wearing. Their clothing was the last thing on my mind,” said Khumalo.
Meanwhile the defence will bring to court an application to call singer Kelly Khumalo to the witness stand.
This after advocate Nxumalo introduced Kelly’s statement on the 2014 murder, reading it into the record.
The prosecution said it did not intend to call her to court at this stage, prompting the defence lawyer’s statement.
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