By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
SA Police Service data analyst Colonel Gideon Gouws will not be available for cross-examination in the murder trial of former Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa on Friday.
Consequently, the proceedings have been postponed until Monday, with another witness slated to take the stand.
During the proceedings on Thursday, advocate Thulani Mngomezulu continued his cross-examination of Gouws. He focused on the communication records between the accused individuals.
Mngomezulu has denied that there was communication between the soccer star’s then-girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo and accused number three, Mthobisi Mncube.
This was contained in one of the two confessions of accused number two Bongani Ntanzi which also implicated Khumalo as the person who allegedly ordered the hit.
Mngomezulu, pointing to two numbers attached to Khumalo, has argued that there was no contact between the two, specifically on the day that Meyiwa was killed on 26 October 2014.
However, the State sought to challenge this, stating that previous evidence indicated that Khumalo had eight cell phones.
“Here are numbers (ending 358) and (ending 498) those are numbers for Kelly Khumalo, and I have an affidavit by Khumalo to say those were the numbers she was using on the day Senzo was killed. That’s just background. I put it to you that there was no communication between Khumalo and accused 3, looking at those numbers, you find no communication specifically on the 26th (day of killing),” said Mngomezulu.
“There are more than 300 pages here it’s not a click of a button, “said Gouws.
“Let’s stand that down, I will give you an opportunity to go through those pages,” replied Mngomezulu.
Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng intervened, emphasising the need for evidence to align with the broader context of the case. However, Mngomezulu continued to assert his arguments. He challenged the validity of Gouws’ evidence and highlighted alleged inconsistencies.
Mngomezulu also believes that Gouws evidence was not helpful to the court.
“I will argue at a later stage that the evidence you presented before this court from 2018 to 2021 is irrelevant in this court in the sense that there is no communication which you have placed on record through SMS or WhatsApp that constitutes or has elements of a particular offence, meaning there is no communication that you can prove to this court that these accused persons knew each other for wrongful purposes especially in relation to death of Meyiwa, meaning you can’t prove guilty mind in this communication of these accused persons.”
Later in the proceedings, Sipho Ramosepele, representing accused number two Ntanzi, questioned Gouws about the handling of evidence. He also accused the witness of adapting his testimony.
Ramosepele further raised doubts about the relationships between the accused individuals. He suggested that some may not have known each other before the incident.
Five men— Muziwikhulelwa Sibiya, Ntanzi, Mthokoziseni Maphisa, Mncube, and Fisokuhle Ntuli—are on trial for the murder of Meyiwa at the Pretoria High Court.