Picture File: Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria during the murder trial of Senzo Meyiwa, 12 July 2022. Picture: Jacques Nelles
After a six-month-long delay, the trial against the five men accused of killing former Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper, Senzo Meyiwa, is expected to resume in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
The protracted murder trial continues on Tuesday morning, amid questions over whether Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela will continue to preside over the matter after the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) recommended that he should be suspended pending the outcome of a tribunal inquiry.
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Last week, the JSC advised President Cyril Ramaphosa to suspend Judge Maumela and Judge Nomonde Mngqibisa-Thusi for their failure to deliver numerous reserved judgments.
The news came on the same day the high court denied bail to Bongani Ntanzi, one of the five men standing trial for allegedly killing Meyiwa in October 2014. The court ruled that Ntanzi failed to prove exceptional circumstances or that it would be in the interest of justice to grant him bail.
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Ntanzi and his co-accused – Sifisokuhle Ntuli, Muzikawukhulelwa Sthemba Sibiya, Mthobisi Prince Ncube and Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa – face various charges including premeditated murder and attempted murder in connection with Meyiwa’s murder.
The group has pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
The footballer was gunned down in what has been described as a botched robbery at the family home of his then-lover and musician Kelly Khumalo, in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg.
During the last court appearance in November last year, Judge Maumela postponed the trial to May this year after Sibiya and Ntanzi appointed attorney Sipho Ramosepele as their new legal counsel.
The men were previously represented by defence attorney Tshepo Thobane.
The trial was deferred in order to give Ramosepele time to familiarise himself with the case and go through the trial transcripts and the contents of the case docket.
Thobane is expected to continue to represent accused number three and four, Mthobisi Prince Ncube and Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa.
Accused number five, Sifisokuhle Ntuli, is still being represented by Advocate Zandile Mshololo.
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