Defence wraps up questioning of neighbour in Meyiwa murder trial

The state has called another neighbour of the Khumalos, Nthabiseng Mokete, as the next witness to testify about the events on the night footballer Senzo Meyiwa was killed.

After less than an hour of cross-examination in the Pretoria high court on Wednesday, the Khumalos' first next-door neighbour called as a witness, Khaya Ngcatshe, was excused by the court.

The first state witness in the rebooted trial, Zandile Khumalo, previously testified that two intruders barged into the Vosloorus house in October 2014, demanding money and cellphones. The house was the home of Zandile and Kelly Khumalo's mother.

The two women, their mother Ntombi, Meyiwa, Zandile's boyfriend Longwe and two of Meyiwa’s friends from KwaZulu-Natal, Mthokozisi Thwala and Tumelo Madlala, had been relaxing in the house, drinking and watching soccer.

Zandile testified three gunshots went off that night. She said she did not see him being shot as she was hiding from the intruders. Meyiwa sustained a chest wound.

On Tuesday Ngatshe told the court he had heard an unusual noise coming from the Khumalos' house while he was in his bedroom that night, and immediately went to investigate by checking through a window facing the Khumalo house.

“I first heard some commotion, shouting, like people were pushing each other. What caught my attention was the sound of a banging door like the door was roughly closed.”

After joining a search initiated by other neighbours for people who had been seen running down the street, and finding no-one, he went back to the Khumalo home, where he saw a wounded Meyiwa lying in the passage.

During cross-examination, defence lawyer Sipho Ramosepele asked about Ngcatshe's height and vision. He said this was due to the fact that Zandile had testified no-one would be able to see through their window from outside as the window was partially blocked and had curtains.

Ngcatshe stuck to his testimony that he could see through the window and reiterated he saw someone with a white shirt whose back was facing the window.

The kitchen was lit, he said.

Estimating the distance from his bedroom window to the Khumalo kitchen window, he said it was roughly 7m away.

Advocate Charles Mnisi asked if one of the Khumalos were among the people who helped carry Meyiwa from where he lay to his car to take him to hospital. Ngcatshe said he could not remember. He previously told the court there were between six and seven people who had helped carry Meyiwa to the car, which Kelly drove.

Advocate Zandile Mshololo asked Ngcatshe who took the decision to take Meyiwa to hospital. Ngcatshe said: “I don't remember. What I remember is that we [him and other neighbours] decided we will take Senzo and put him in the vehicle and take him to the hospital.”

Responding to Mshololo's question of whether Meyiwa was responsive, he said he wasn't talking. 

“The body was also non-responsive but when you neared the face you could hear there was difficulty breathing.” 

He, his brother and neighbours had gone separately to the hospital to check on Meyiwa’s status, only to hear he had died of his wound.

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