Senzo Meyiwa Trial: Defence Tries to Stop Eyewitness Tumelo Madlala From Identifying 1 of the Alleged Killers

Thursday, September 15, 2022 at 11:30 AM by Lebogang Mashego

The Senzo Meyiwa murder trial got a little more heated this week as Tumelo Madlala continued with his testimony
Madlala, who is Meyiwa's close friend, identified one of the alleged killers in court as accused number two
Some South Africans believe that Madlala is not truthful and do not trust his version of events

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PRETORIA - The Senzo Meyiwa murder trial got a little more heated as state witness Tumelo Madlala tried to identify one of the alleged murderers.

State witness Tumelo Madlala has identified Senzo Meyiwa's alleged killer as accused number two. Images: OJ Koloti & Carl Fourie
Source: Getty Images

Madlala, who is Meyiwa's longtime friend, tried to tell the Pretoria High Court that one of the intruders who barged into Kelly Khumalo's mother's house was present in court.

Before he could point out the individual, the defence team objected, reports News24. While testifying, Madlala stated that the first person he saw in the house was short in height and had short dreadlocks with big eyes.

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Meyiwa also stated that the suspect also had a gun and was dressed in a yellow scotch shirt.

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He described the second intruder as a tall man with a trimmed beard. Madlala told the court that he did not see who actually shot Meyiwa because he took cover in a nearby bedroom when he heard the gunfire.

TimesLIVE reports that Madlala told the court that he remembers that his second intruder was slender because Meyiwa could hold him during a scuffle.

As proceedings continued on Thursday, 15 September, Madlala was able to point to accused number two, Bongani Sandiso, as the skinny man with the trimmed beard who was inside the house that night. This was despite the defence teams attempts to stop him from identifying the suspect from the dock.

South Africans react

@Ntsika_ka_Zwide said:

"I wonder why Adv Mshololo didn't want him to point out who was that guy inside there."

@MbaliMk93910249 said:

"I wonder who's training this Tumelo to lie in the court "

@Thobile33005089 said:

"Tumelo is a liar."

@atlasRanger said:

"Bongani could be the guy Longwe was trying to aim at when he accidentally shot Senzo. Akere he probably ran outside to fetch a gun. #SenzoMeyiwatrial"

Senzo Meyiwa murder trial: Journalists apologise for harassing Tumelo Madlala, court issues a written warning

Briefly News previously reported that The media houses who were kicked out of the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial on Tuesday, 13 September, for harassing an eyewitness have apologised for their conduct.

Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela of the Pretoria High Court ordered journalists to leave and temporarily banned audio and video recording of the trial after finding out that Tumelo Madlala, who was Meyiwa's longtime friend, was hounded by the press.