By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
It was a morning of contention in the Pretoria High Court where Senzo Meyiwa’s close friend, Mthokozisi Thwala was testifying in the trial of his murder.
Defence Advocate Charles Mnisi, who is representing Mthobisi Prince Mncube [accused number 3], was grilling witness Thwala, who was one of seven people present when the Bafana Bafana captain was shot in an apparent robbery gone wrong.
Meyiwa was shot dead in the family home of his then-lover and musician, Kelly Khumalo, in Vosloorus, in 2014.
Khumalo, her mother Ntombi, sister Zandi and her boyfriend at the time – Longwe Twala and Senzo’s friends – including Thwala and another man named Tumelo Madlala, were in the house at the time of the murder.
Five suspects, Bongani Ntanzi, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Ncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Fisokuhle Ntuli are on trial for Meyiwa’s murder.
In his affidavit on 2 May 2023, Thwala told the court two intruders had entered the house; the first man, with dreadlocks, demanded cellphones and money in isiZulu and Sesotho.
But when Mnisi pressed Thwala about the dialect used by the intruder with dreadlocks, Thwala fired back, saying he never said anything about Sesotho.
The court then adjourned briefly for Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela to check Thwala’s latest testimony against the court records.
Those records verified Mnisi’s assertion, but Thwala still could not comment on whether the intruder was ‘pure Zulu’.
It was clear from Mnisi’s line of questioning that he wanted Thwala to explain exactly how the scuffle had broken out.
According to Thwala’s original testimony, Longwe Twala immediately got up, shoved the dreadlocks intruder and fled outside.
“I remember Senzo and Tumelo stood up, and I grabbed my phone,” Thwala said through the interpreter.
“Senzo then stood up and pushed the intruder towards the kitchen,” Thwala added.
But Thwala and Mnisi continued to butt heads over the way in which the shoving/scuffle/wrestling between Meyiwa and the intruder with dreadlocks took place and how the men ended up in the kitchen.
Thwala told the court he never got involved in the scuffle and concentrated on moving Khumalo’s child out of harm’s way.
After a while, Judge Maumela intervened, asking if Mnisi’s questions were fair. Thwala said he could not describe the pushing because he was preoccupied with getting his phone and the child.
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