Johannesburg - Senzo Meyiwa’s friend Tumelo Madlala wept uncontrollably on Tuesday afternoon, forcing an early adjournment to his much anticipated testimony at the North Gauteng High Court.
Madlala was the first witness among those who were in the house when Bafana Bafana goalkeeper was shot dead in October 2014.
He flew in from Durban on Monday afternoon to give testimony at Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela’s Pretoria courtroom.
Madlala, along with Meyiwa, Kelly, Zandi and Gladness Khumalo, Mthokozisi Twala and Longwe Twala, were all in the house when a shot was fired, fatally wounding the Orlando Pirates goalkeeper.
The State is currently leading evidence through prosecutor Advocate George Baloyi.
The trial has also heard testimony from two police officers, expert witness Sergeant Thabo Mosia and Sergeant Mlungisi Mthethwa, who was a crime prevention officer at the time of the murder.
As Madlala described how his friend was shot dead after armed men stormed the Khumalo home in Vosloorus, he could not hold back the tears.
He cried on multiple occasions on Tuesday, forcing comfort breaks, long adjournments and eventually an early adjournment just after 3pm on Tuesday afternoon as he could not gather himself on the stand.
Madlala had only been with Meyiwa for a matter of hours having just arrived from Durban on Sunday afternoon that fateful day.
The Khumalo sisters, Meyiwa and Twala, had fetched him in Spruitview in the slain goalkeeper's new BMW X6.
He testified that they spent R400 on liquor before heading to the Khumalo household where they were later joined by Twala.
Describing the moments before Meyiwa was shot, he said a dreadlocked and armed suspect came out of nowhere and was at the kitchen door demanding money and cellphones.
“The person who came in was carrying a firearm and he had dreadlocks. He was wearing a jacket, I’m not sure if it was caramel or brown.
“That’s all I can remember. He didn’t say much, he wanted phones and money. He was speaking isiZulu,” Madlala told the court.
He said there were two men and Twala pushed one of them and ran out through the door.
He said at the same time Meyiwa had grabbed one of the suspects hand and pinned him against the wall.
Madlala, who had been injured and was sporting a cast at the time, also testified that he punched one of the armed men in the face before fleeing to a bedroom, while Kelly had ran to a bedroom at the first sight of the intruders.
Madlala said he heard a shot go off as he was fleeing towards the bedroom.
When he returned after the armed men had apparently fled, he returned to find Meyiwa lying on the floor in the sitting room between the couches and a TV stand.
Madlala is expected to continue his testimony behind camera on Wednesday.
Five accused are standing trial for the murder of the former soccer star who was killed at his peak.
The five men are Muzikawukhulelwa Sthemba Sibiya, 34, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, 30, Mthobisi Prince Ncube, 36, and Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa, 35, and Sifisokuhle Nkani Ntuli.
The trial continues.
IOL