WATCH | Senzo Meyiwa murder trial resumes in Pretoria high court

The Senzo Meyiwa murder trial resumes on Monday in the high court in Pretoria.

The trial was postponed on Thursday May 2 after the defence alleged the state was conducting the trial by ambush by not timeously sharing documentation. The prosecution said this was a ploy as the evidence they referred to was disclosed electronically last year.

The defence expressed concern to the court about the introduction of documents and additional evidence by the state during proceedings.

Earlier, on Tuesday April 30, the matter was postponed for the state to supply the defence with documents including affidavits and bank statements. When the matter resumed two days later, the trial was expected to get under way with cellphone expert Gideon Gouws back on the stand. However, the defence lawyer representing Sifisokuhle Nkani Ntuli, advocate Zandile Mshololo, said she had received incomplete documents from the state on Tuesday and more information on Wednesday night.

She said she consulted with her client on the information she received on Tuesday but could not consult on the additional information she received overnight as she had not had time to read the documents. 

“This is a trial by ambush. Yesterday (Wednesday) I had all day to consult with my client on all the documents the state is preparing or anticipating to use. However, the documents were not supplied to me, especially the affidavits which were marked by state prosecutor George Baloyi,” she said.

“The state is not telling this court the truth, that they need time to investigate and to compile all the necessary records that they are supposed to be supplying to the defence so we can consult properly.”

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