Senzo Meyiwa trial: ‘There are some persons who don’t take this case seriously,’ says judge

The trial of five men accused of murdering former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa will continue next week due to the unavailability of one of the defence lawyers.

The case briefly resumed for the continuation of the trial-within-a-trial in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Friday.

The court was expected to hear arguments relating to an automatic vehicle location (AVL) report, which the state intended to lead evidence on.

The AVL report contains information about the movements of a police escort that transported one of the accused in the trial, Bongani Ntanzi, on 22 June 2020.

The defence, which is challenging the report, have previously argued in court that the police made several stops where Ntanzi, who was arrested on 16 June, was assaulted and forced to confess to his involvement in Meyiwa’s murder.

Heads of argument

At the beginning of the proceedings on Friday, state prosecutor George Baloyi revealed that Ntanzi’s lawyer Advocate Thulani Mngomezulu was not feeling well and, therefore, not available in court.

Baloyi informed the court that the defence had abandoned its application challenging the report and would proceed to lead evidence on it with Sergeant Vusumuzi Mogane.

“The issue of leading the witness on the AVL records is no longer going to be disputed so it will no longer be necessary to file the heads [of argument],” he said.

However, attorney Sipho Ramosepele, who is also represents Ntanzi, said the legal team had changed its mind about objecting to the report.

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“At first I was instructed by Mr Mngomezulu to say that there is no need, however, around midnight he then called me to say upon reflection and further consultation, he is of the opinion that the matter still needs to be canvassed via heads [of argument]. He is going to draft the heads and is going to be available on Monday to argue that matter,” he said.

Ramosepele said he was also not in a position to proceed as he didn’t prepare nor was he ready with a new witness as proposed by the state since Mngomezulu was solely hired to deal with issues in the trial-within-a-trial.

“Should he not be available on Monday then I can proceed. I can prepare those heads of argument,” the attorney added.

Watch the trial below:

Postponement

Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng said he was also in the middle of preparations when he received information that the defence had abandoned their application.

The judge said he was surprised that the defence have reversed their decision.

“I come here prepared and ready… now I have an advocate of this court saying ‘tell the judge it’s not necessary to prepare’ so that’s how I came to this court. It’s just unfortunate there are some persons who don’t take this case seriously… it’s obvious,” he said.

Mokgoatlheng postponed the proceedings to Monday.

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