Senzo Meyiwa Trial: Advocate Says State Is Petty As Prosecutor Tells Defence to Use Own Equipment

• Tensions escalated between the defence and the State advocates in the ongoing Senzo Meyiwa murder trial
• Advocate Sipho Ramosepele accused the State of being petty for telling the defence to bring their own equipment
• Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng refused to get involved, stating that he was scared to speak his mind on the matter

Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He spent 10 years working for the Northern Natal Courier before transitioning to online journalism.

GAUTENG – The trial into the murder of Senzo Meyiwa is never short of drama as South Africans get no closer to finding out who murdered the former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper.

Five men are on trial for the murder of the former Orlando Pirates star, but it was the court officials who took centre stage on the latest day of proceedings. Things got heated between the State and defence on Monday, 23 June 2025, as the prosecutor took offence to comments made by Advocate Charles Mnisi. Mnisi represents two of the accused in the matter.

State tells defence to bring their own equipment

Tensions escalated during proceedings when the State notified the court that it would not supply the defence with any devices to be used during cross-examination. State prosecutor Advocate Ronnie Sibanda explained that they made the decision after Mnisi requested that the defence could bring its own operator to project the photo evidence in court. Mnisi accused the previous operator of fidgeting with the photos to favour the State.

Sibanda not only agreed that Mnisi could bring in his own operator, but he also took it one step further to say that the defence should bring its own equipment as well.

“From now on, we request that they use their gadgets to demonstrate without involving the state. I believe they have laptops,” he said.

Defence accuses State of being petty

Sipho Ramosepele, the defence advocate for accused number two, accused the State of being petty, saying that he’s never seen anything like that before.

“As an attorney, not an advocate, I find it disheartening to see this level of pettiness among counsel as an officer of the court,” he said.

He stated that what was taking place was not professional, adding that he was always taught as an attorney to stay above emotions and have professionalism amongst fellow lawyers.

Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng remains silent

While the drama continued in the courtroom, Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng remained silent, stating that he was scared to speak. Mokgoatlheng has been criticised for some of his comments during the trial, most recently for his statement about black lawyers.

“If I speak up, people will label me as a racist, palooka, moegoe, or bhari. This is South Africa. Therefore, I am choosing to remain silent,” he said.

What you need to know about the Senzo Meyiwa trial

• One of the men accused of killing former Orlando Pirates star Meyiwa admitted that he was in contact with Kelly Khumalo.
• A defence lawyer said that two of the accused's confessions of murder were made under duress.
• Kelly Khumalo was linked with the murder of Meyiwa once more, leaving many to ask why she wasn't arrested.
• Tensions were rising between Judge Mokgoatlheng and Advocate Mnisi during proceedings in the murder trial.
• The matter was hit by a further postponement as a defence lawyer wasn't ready to proceed after a two-month delay.
• Confusion reigned in court after defence lawyer Charles Mnisi asked for leave of absence as he was running the Comrades Marathon.

Trial proceedings delayed by arguments over gold tooth

Briefly News reported that the proceedings in the trial were delayed by a debate about selfies and gold teeth.

The State argued that new photo evidence proved that one of the accused had a gold tooth at the time of the murders.

Advocate Charles Mnisi stated that the photo was of the accused’s brother and not him, as the State claimed.

Source: Briefly News