Senzo Meyiwa trial postponed to allow accused to be examined by doctor

The trial of five men accused of murdering former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa will continue on Wednesday.

The case briefly resumed for the continuation of Constable Sizwe Skhumbuzo Zungu’s cross-examination in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday, but was postponed after Advocate Zandile Mshololo requested an adjournment for the day.

Mshololo told the court accused number five, Fisokuhle Ntuli, was ill.

“My client informed me this morning that he’s not feeling well and we would like to request a postponement so that he could be taken to the hospital,” she said.

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The state was not opposed to Mshololo’s request.

Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng ordered Ntuli be seen by a doctor at the Leeuwkop Prison’s hospital section.

“I don’t want this gentleman to go to Leeuwkop and be given tablets and Castor Oil. He must be attended by a doctor,” the judge said on Tuesday.

“It is hereby ordered that Mr Fisokuhle Nkani Ntuli, accused number five, be examined by a medical practitioner today and that a medical report be presented to the court on 13 September about his medical condition.”

‘Written statement’

On Monday, Mokgoatlheng ruled that a written statement sought by the defence did not exist.

This was after Zungu had revealed that his typed statement contained errors, which he later rectified.

The matter prompted the defence to request an “original statement”, but the state insisted that there was no written statement as Zungu had made notes from which his statement was crafted.

It was heard during proceedings that the notes had been shredded.

After asking the witness a series of questions about the so-called written statement and evaluating the evidence before him, Mokgoatlheng found that the defence cannot prove the existence of the original statement.

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Zungu has testified that he was with all the accused in the trial on the day Meyiwa was killed.

The witness told the court that he ate braai meat and drank alcohol with the five men at a hostel in Vosloorus on 26 October 2014.

Ntuli and his co-accused – Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Ntanzi, Mthobisi Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa – are on trial for Meyiwa’s murder.

They face charges of murder, attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, possession of an unlicensed firearm, and possession of ammunition.

The suspects have pleaded not guilty.