By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has confirmed that it did not make a decision on the second docket implicating singer Kelly Khumalo in the murder of former Bafana Bafana captain, Senzo Meyiwa, because the document had no merit.
This was confirmed in the Pretoria High Court on Monday in a letter provided to the state and defence by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the South Gauteng division.
The second docket took centre stage last week after advocate Zandile Mshololo asked for the postponement of the trial in order to determine the status quo of the docket from the NPA.
Mshololo had asked for confirmation of exhibit C. This exhibit is the unsigned indictment document which implicates those who were at the house at the time of Meyiwa’s killing, and not the accused before court, as being responsible for his death.
In the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) document, which includes an unsigned indictment, Khumalo, her mother Gladness, her sister Zandi, Meyiwa’s two friends, Tumelo Madlala and Mthokozisi Thwala, Zandi’s boyfriend Longwe Thwala, and Maggie Phiri are identified as those who should be prosecuted for Meyiwa’s murder and defeating the ends of justice.
Prosecutor advocate George Baloyi furnished the defence with the NPA’s confirmation on the status of the draft indictment on Monday morning.
Mshololo confirmed that she had received the confirmation and proceeded to read the letter, penned by South Gauteng DPP advocate Andrew Chauke.
According to the letter, the document had no status as it was an internal opinion by a junior prosecutor. It said the document was without merit.
Chauke added that no decision had been made regarding the second docket on which exhibit C was drafted.
Baloyi also addressed Mshololo’s assertion that exhibit C was a decision by the DPP to lay charges against those mentioned. He revealed that the entire document purports to be a memorandum by the junior prosecutor which was addressed to the DPP.
He said the document summarised the evidence of the second docket and included a summary of the substantial facts and an unsigned indictment.
It appeared that Mshololo and advocate Malesela Teffo, who represents four of the accused, had focused on the unsigned indictment during court proceedings.
Teffo had previously handed the document to the court during the cross-examination of the State’s first witness, Sergeant Thabo Mosia.
Second docket
The NPA document was based on a second docket in the murder of Meyiwa. The existence of two different dockets pertaining to the same incident were in the public domain before the trial started.
It was previously placed on record that there were two case dockets, with different investigating teams making different findings, including on who the suspects were.
In the first case currently before court, Muzikawukhulelwa S’Tembu Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthobisi Prince Mncube, Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa, and Fisokuhle Ntuli are the accused.
The men are charged with playing a role in the murder of Meyiwa, who was shot in Khumalo’s home in Vosloorus, Boksburg, on 26 October 2014.
In the second docket, Khumalo, her mother Gladness, her sister Zandi, Meyiwa’s two friends, Tumelo Madlala and Mthokozisi Thwala, Zandi’s boyfriend Longwe Thwala, and Maggie Phiri were identified as suspects.
The court previously heard that two witnesses found Phiri cleaning the scene after Meyiwa was shot.
Ntuli and his co-accused – Muzikawukhulelwa Sthemba Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthobisi Prince Ncube, and Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa – face a string of charges over Meyiwa’s murder on 26 October in 2014.
The trial continues.