The Senzo Meyiwa murder trial resumes today in the Pretoria High Court after a turbulent end to Friday’s proceedings involving allegations of assault, medical neglect and fresh accusations from key defence witness Absalom Zungu.
Evidence was interrupted last week when accused number five, Fisokuhle Ntuli, claimed he had been assaulted by warders at Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre and had not received the medical treatment the court ordered.
Ntuli told his stand-in counsel that he was “dumped in his cell” and ignored by officials tasked with executing the court’s instruction.
Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng noted the complaint and ruled that any alleged assault should be dealt with through litigation, allowing the matter to proceed.
The trial then returned to the testimony of Zungu, the father of State witness Constable Sizwe Zungu. He has repeatedly denied ever giving a statement to police implicating accused number one Muzi Sibiya and accused number two Bongani Ntanzi.
Absalom maintained on Friday that the signature on the alleged police statement is not his and insisted he had been misled by officers who transported him from his Ermelo home without explanation.
He further told the court that if any harm came to him, he believed it would be at the hands of his son and the case’s lead investigator, Brigadier Bongani Gininda, claiming they “know what they are trying to hide.”
He also alleged that Gininda previously attempted to meet him privately in Utrecht and Newcastle, offering protection and relocation if he agreed to testify.
Zungu detailed how police collected him from his home and drove past the expected town stop, saying he feared for his life during the journey. During cross-examination, advocate Charles Mnisi put it to him directly that he had been “abducted,” a characterisation Zungu ultimately agreed with.
Ntuli’s medical complaint and Zungu’s testimony halted the defence’s progress on Friday, but the court is expected to continue with Zungu’s evidence-in-chief today, followed by further cross-examination from multiple defence teams.
Zungu is the second witness called by the defence, and his testimony is central to contesting the State’s narrative regarding alleged admissions and witness statements tied to the 2014 killing of Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa.
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