The Senzo Meyiwa murder trial resumes today in the Pretoria High Court, where the defence will continue leading evidence after introducing a new witness who claims police instructed him on what to say during the investigation.
The defence on Wednesday called Absalom Nhlahlezi Zungu, the father of police constable Sizwe Zungu, who told the court he was taken to a house that was not a police station and asked to provide a statement under questionable circumstances.
Zungu testified that the officers gave him the names of accused men and asked whether he knew them or the killers of Senzo Meyiwa.
“They mentioned Muzi and Ntanzi and asked if I knew them,” he told the court.
He said he was instructed on what to say and that Brigadier Bongani Gininda wrote the statement on his behalf.
He told the court he refused to sign the statement because it had not been taken at a police station.
“I wouldn’t have signed anything because it cannot be that a statement is taken in the bushes and not at the police station,” Zungu said.
Zungu further testified that he knew accused Muzi Sibiya as a neighbour and Bongani Ntanzi as a relative, although he denied providing his son with any information about the case.
He added that his son once visited him in Ermelo and asked him to testify on their behalf and change his surname to Khumalo, a request he found unusual.
The witness said Constable Zungu had told him he knew who killed Meyiwa and that he had been attending meetings in Pretoria. He claimed he warned his son about working with Brigadier Gininda.
Advocate Charles Mnisi, representing two of the accused, indicated that the defence intended to challenge the credibility of statements gathered during the police investigation.
The court heard that there had been suggestions that Constable Zungu obtained information about the murder from his father. Zungu denied this.
The trial continues to examine events surrounding the 2014 shooting of the Bafana Bafana captain at the Vosloorus home of singer Kelly Khumalo. Five men, including Sibiya and Ntanzi, face charges of murder, robbery and unlawful possession of firearms. They have all pleaded not guilty.
Additional witnesses are expected to testify this week as the defence continues to question the reliability of police conduct and statements collected during the investigation.
Watch the live stream of the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial below.
