By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Sergeant Mlungisi Mthethwa, who was one of the first responders to the scene of Senzo Meyiwa’s has defended his decision to leave the crime scene unattended during his investigation.
Mthethwa told the court what he found when he received a call about a shooting in progress.
Five men are accused of murdering the Bafana Bafana captain at his girlfriend, singer Kelly Khumalo’s home.
Mthethwa said that when he first arrived at the Khumalo home, he was told by an uncle, called Themba Khumalo, about the shooting.
But he said that he still did not feel the need to cordon off the scene.
“Because, my lord, it is difficult in this instance in that I’m cordoning off a scene. I don’t know if it’s a murder, an attempted murder, it’s a shooting – there is someone who is in hospital, I don’t know if that person is alive or dead. And even if I were to call the photographer, the photographer would like to know, ‘what am I coming to do there?”
He said he only secured the scene once he, his colleague and Gladness Khumalo returned from the hospital.
Mthethwa further said there was no four-hour delay in reporting the shooting that killed Meyiwa, and the state’s first witness, Sergeant Thabo Mosia, was not truthful when he testified to this.
This was the contention made on Friday by Mthethwa, the state’s second witness, who also reiterated his Thursday testimony that Mosia was not being honest about arriving at the crime scene at 00:20am, the morning after Meyiwa was murdered.
Mosia is a forensic officer, who testified that he collected the physical evidence at the Vosloorus, Gauteng, scene of Meyiwa’s murder. Mthethwa, who is stationed at the Vosloorus police station, said he was part of the first officers on the scene at around 9pm on 26 October 2014.
Meyiwa was fatally shot by what the state alleges were armed intruders at the Vosloorus family home of his then girlfriend, singer Kelly Khumalo.
On Thursday, Mthethwa had testified that he received a call at around 8.53pm in October 2014 to attend to a “shooting in progress” at the Khumalo family home, and that he deposed a statement, which was commissioned at 10pm, on his actions at the scene.
On Friday, Mthethwa altered his testimony, saying that, in fact, he had started writing his statement at 10pm and completed it before 11pm.
Mthethwa was adamant, however, that Mosia had arrived at the scene at the time of the affidavit’s commissioning, which was contrary to what Mosia had written in his October 2014 statement, and testified to during the trial.
Mthethwa also reiterated his version that Mosia arrived before Brigadier Philani Ndlovu, Gauteng’s former head of detectives, after Mosia had claimed during his testimony that Ndlovu arrived before him, welcomed him at the scene and briefed Mosia about the crime’s details.
“According to us, Mosia arrived first, and then Brigadier Ndlovu arrived afterwards. I don’t know where he [Mosia] got it from that Ndlovu arrived first,” Mthethwa testified.
He added that he was with his colleague, a Sergeant Mathebula, when Mosia arrived on the scene.
“All the delays before reporting the matter to the relevant people might have compromised the crime scene,” reads part of Mosia’s June 2019 supplementary statement, which was read out in court by advocate Zandile Mshololo.
Mshololo represents the fifth accused Fisokuhle Ntuli. The first four accused — Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Ntanzi, Mthobisi Ncube and Mthokoziseni Maphisa — are represented by attorney TT Thobane.
Mthethwa concluded his testimony on Friday, and the state, on Monday, is expected to call the first witness who was inside the house when Meyiwa was killed.
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