Senzo Meyiwa trial: Defence ‘puzzled’ by ‘new evidence’

The Senzo Meyiwa murder trial was again postponed on Tuesday as the defence counsel accused the state of presenting new evidence in court.

The trial was expected to continue in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, with retired police cellphone data analyst Colonel Lambertus Steyn expected to be back on the witness stand.

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Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng had earlier ruled in favour of the state to recall Steyn to clarify certain aspects relating to cellphone data.

While Steyn was ready to testify once more, the defence told the court they could not proceed as they were yet to peruse the documents received after Mokgoatlheng delivered his judgment.

Documents constitute new evidence

Advocate Charles Mnisi, the legal representative of accused three Mthobisi Mncube, argued that the defence could not make sense of “what these documents are”.

“From where I’m standing, this constitutes new evidence which the court has ruled that it won’t be a part of this process.

“If these documents were already there when this witness came and gave his testimony initially, they should have been made available to us. For what he has come to explain today, should be also based on the documents that are already forming part of the court record.

“Now, we have got new information that the state wants to introduce through the backdoor. It has not been explained to us what is the purpose of these documents,” he said on Tuesday.

Mnisi told the court that he needed to consult with his client before Steyn testified.

READ MORE: Senzo Meyiwa trial: Judge rules state can recall witness to clarify evidence on Kelly Khumalo calls

State prosecutor George Baloyi stated that the documents would be used solely to explain the relevant evidence that required clarification.

 “Obviously, that cannot happen in a vacuum. He is going to use certain documents to explain that,” the prosecutor said.

Both Steyn and Baloyi denied that the documents were new evidence.

Accused one Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya’s lawyer, Thulani Mngomezulu was also “puzzled” about the new documents.

“Looking at the papers that we were given, it shows that there’s something new that will pop up. That’s what I foresee,” the defence lawyer said.

Watch the trial below:

Mngomezulu suggested that the prosecution failed to specify whether the evidence would be clarified through oral or documentary means, stating that this lack of clarity was unfair to the defence.

 The state should be transparent enough to the defence. They should tell us that in their application that we intend to clarify this part of the evidence by tendering certain documents.

“But the state, as it is always the position, likes to take us by surprise. We don’t want to listen to this evidence before knowing what is in this document.”

Mokgoatlheng postponed to trial to Monday, 12 August.

Steyn to clarify ‘discrepancies’

On Monday, the state presented its reasons why Steyn should be recalled to clarify his evidence.

This is after the defence pointed out inconsistencies between Steyn and Vodacom forensic liaison supervisor Pinky Vythilingam’s evidence.

The defence counsel accused the prosecution of fabricating a case and threatened to lay criminal charges.

READ MORE: Senzo Meyiwa trial: State accused of fabricating data to frame Kelly Khumalo

The “discrepancies” pertain to the phone calls between accused number five, Fisokuhle Ntuli, and Kelly Khumalo in the lead-up to Meyiwa’s murder on October 26, 2014.

It is alleged that Khumalo received two phone calls from Ntuli before Meyiwa’s murder.

According to Steyn’s evidence, the first call was made on August 2, 2014, followed by another on October 15, 2014.

Vythilingam, however, testified that Khumalo received the calls from two other individuals, not Ntuli.