‘He was lying face up’- Second state witness testifies in Meyiwa murder trial

A second state witness has taken the stand in the trial of the five men accused of killing Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa.

Senzo Meyiwa murder trial

Khaya Ngcatshe, a neighbour of the Khumalos, gave evidence on Tuesday before the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on what he saw on the evening the soccer star was killed in 2014.

Meyiwa was fatally shot on 26 October during an alleged botched robbery at the family home of his then-lover, Kelly Khumalo, in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg.

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Ngcatshe testified that he and his brother returned from a concert that evening when he heard an unusual noise or commotion coming from the Khumalo house.

Curious, he peered through his bedroom window and spotted someone wearing a white T-shirt. He said the person’s face was not discernible.

Ngcatshe and his father went outside through the kitchen door to investigate further.

‘Young man jumping over the wall’

There, they encountered a young man jumping over the wall into their yard. The situation became tense when they confronted the person, but the young man insisted he was not a criminal and claimed that something was wrong inside the Khumalo house.

“When we met him, we were shocked and wondered what was he doing there… When we met him, I was in possession of a steel rod,” Ngcatshe said.

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The man then jumped back into the Khumalo yard after pleading with Ngcatshe not to hurt him.

“As he jumped, I then decided to also jump but my father stopped me because he said he heard something like a gunshot,” he said,

As the events unfolded, Ngcatshe and his father – who has since passed away – went inside the house to tell his brother what they had seen and heard.

Aferwards they noticed a commotion on the street, with people screaming and neighbours gathering.

Ngcatshe said they were informed there were people running coming from the Khumalo house. It was then they decided to follow the direction of the running people to a nearby park, but they could not find anyone.

Meyiwa rushed to hospital

Returning to the Khumalo house, they discovered Meyiwa lying on the kitchen floor, dressed in the same white T-shirt Ngcatshe had spotted earlier. The soccer star was bleeding from his upper body.

“He was lying face up and we then tried to let him [Meyiwa] sit upright. Then there was talk of him being rushed to hospital,” he said.

In a desperate attempt to save Meyiwa, they helped him sit up and eventually carried him to a BMW X6 parked in the yard.

The vehicle rushed Meyiwa to the hospital driven by Kelly Khumalo.

The trial continues on Wednesday with Ngcatshe expected to provide further testimony.

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