By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
After less than an hour of cross-examination in the Pretoria high court on Wednesday, the Khumalos’ first next-door neighbour called as a witness, Khaya Ngcatshe, was excused by the court.
Ngcatshe told the court that after he and a few other neighbours tried to look for people alleged to have run from the Khumalo home, they returned to the house to find Meyiwa lying on the floor.
He said the first thing he noticed was that the person on the floor was wearing a white T-shirt.
“When we got in [the Khumalo household], I noticed the white T-shirt. We then realised that this particular person lying down here was Senzo. He was lying face up. We tried to lift him as neighbours and let him sit up. From there, it was said that he should be rushed to the hospital.
“I noticed that he had a wound on the chest, [to the] upper body.
“We then carried him to the car. He was heavy, so we helped each other to carry him. At least six or seven of us carried him,” Ngcatshe said.
Meyiwa was then driven to the hospital by Khumalo and her sister, Zandile.
Ngcatshe testified for a second day, recounting the events of the night when the footballer lost his life. He claimed the wounded player had not received any medical assistance.
Advocate Zandile Mshololo probed further, questioning whether any Khumalo family member was present to help Meyiwa or if he was left alone to succumb to his injuries.
However, Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng intervened strongly, disapproving of Mshololo’s line of inquiry.
The judge clarified: “Zandile said she went to MaPhiri [their neighbour]. Let’s not adulterate the evidence by stating non-essential information that we can never, ever testify to. She [Zandile Khumalo] said she panicked, she froze, she came out, she went to MaPhiri… she couldn’t even dial 10111, and now you’re telling us he was left there to die.”
The trial continued with Ngcatshe concluding his testimony on Wednesday.
Another neighbour of the Khumalos, Nthabiseng Mokete, was called upon to shed light on the events of the ill-fated night when Meyiwa lost his life.
Mokete told court that she heard three gunshots on the day that Meyiwa was killed.
She heard the shots ring out while sitting in the car with her friend Yolanda Notha.
“That there was a person that passed at the time I was saying to her, that is the sound of a gunshot. This particular person as she or he was passing he or she went past running In fact he was running while passing where we were.
“Now this second sound of the firearm that is being described it sounded as though it was now close to the vehicle. The sound was closer to the vehicle. After that sound two people passed running towards the park in the same direction that the first person went running to.”
Mokete added that when the third gunshot went off, the three men had already ran down the street towards the park.
She said that it was after the third shot where Khumalo ran out the house to go call for help.
“I remember hearing Zandi’s voice and I could somehow see her. It also appears that she could see that I was sitting in the car. I remember her saying: ‘Nthabiseng call the ambulance’.”
Defence lawyer Sipho Ramosepele however pointed out what he believed were inconsistencies in Mokete’s police statements and her testimony in court.
In 2014 and again in 2019, Mokete told police she couldn’t give a thorough description of the two men she saw fleeing from near the scene.
But in her testimony, she described a shorter, medium-built man with dreadlocks and a taller one with a hoodie.
This matched Zandi Khumalo’s description of two alleged intruders that she said were behind Meyiwa’s murder.
Ramosepele pressed Mokete on her testimony about the two men she saw fleeing.
Ramosepele: “Now since this was a Sunday evening, was the street busy?” Mokete: “There were other people there but it wasn’t too busy.”
Proceedings have adjourned, with Mokete expected back on the stand on Thursday.
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