THE North Gauteng High Court in Tshwane has postponed the trial in the murder of late Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa to tomorrow, 12 April.
This comes after Advocate Zandile Mshololo requested the matter to be postponed so she could consult with her client, accused number five Sifisokuhle Ntuli (35).
The five murder accused, Muzikawukhelwa Sibiya (35), Bongani Ntanzi, Mthobisi Mncube (37), Mthokoziseni Maphisa (36) and Ntuli made a brief appearance in the same court.
Among those who came to court were members of the Meyiwa family, accompanied by AfriForum CEO and advocate, Gerrie Nel.
During her submission, Mshololo told the court she received more statements from the state late and as a result, they were not ready to proceed with the trial.
She said after receiving the statements she was unable to consult with her client.
“The Correctional Service did not allow us to consult. With the limited time, it was hard to make any arrangements further than that,” she said.
She also accused the state and the Correctional Services of violating her client’s constitutional rights.
“My client was ambushed by the state. That conduct of the state violated his constitutional rights of a fair trial. Had he been given time, he would have had an opportunity to prepare,” she said.
She requested more time to consult with her client.
State prosecutor George Baloyi told the court that they did not oppose the postponement, although they were ready to proceed with the trial.
He added that the evidence submitted to the defence had to be sent late to protect the key state witnesses.
Advocate Malesela Teffo, standing for accused one to four, opposed the postponement, saying they all were facing the same problem as Mshololo but they were ready for trial.
The court granted the postponement to allow Mshololo to consult with her client.
The court also ordered that there be consultation without any problems from Correctional Services.
“I fully understand why there could be problems with consultations from the department. I’m not giving this order to undermine anyone but for a fair trial,” said Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela.
All the accused are currently serving jail sentences for other crimes.
Teffo made a request that all his clients be kept in one correctional facility, which is Leeuwkop Prison. He said this will make it easy for him to have access to them.
Speaking to the media on behalf of the Meyiwa family, Nel said it’s finally time for the family to get closure.
He added that he remains convinced that the right people have been arrested but he did expect more people to be incarcerated for Meyiwa’s death.
Senzo’s cousin, Nomalanga Meyiwa, said she’s glad that the family will finally get to know what happened when the soccer star was killed.
Senzo was shot and killed in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni when he was visiting his girlfriend Kelly Khumalo at her home in October 2014.