Durban - After much speculation about the witness expected to name singer Kelly Khumalo as Senzo Meyiwa’s killer, sister Zandile Khumalo-Gumede, who topped the list after releasing a song with cryptic lyrics about whistle-blowing, has publicly declared her allegiance to Khumalo.
Interest in the trial peaked last week when, during cross examination, advocate Malesela Teffo, representing four of the accused, revealed that an eyewitness would testify that Meyiwa was allegedly mistakenly shot by Khumalo.
It was easy for people to assume Khumalo-Gumede would be the one to identify her sister since their relationship had soured, resulting in a “public divorce”. Gumede-Khumalo was one of the seven people who was in the house when Meyiwa was killed but it seemed she would remain tight-lipped for now.
Khumalo’s lawyer, Magdalene Moonsamy, said Teffo’s utterances had left her client upset. “Individuals are grasping at straws and we need to understand where the focus needs to be.
We will continue to make submissions to court in the coming weeks on the issues that have emanated,” she said.
Following the courtroom allegations, Moonsamy said Khumalo would break her silence and that she wanted her day in court. She went on record criticising some aspects of how the case had been handled so far, alleging prejudice and discrimination.
When asked if there was a possibility that the court could have the wrong men in the dock, since Khumalo and the others who were present during the murder had not positively identified the suspects, Moonsamy said it was the State’s call to outline the unfolding process.
“I can say with full confidence that my client has herself informed me that she was once called in the beginning, a week or two after Senzo’s passing. Subsequent to that those individuals who are in the dock were not subject to an identity parade by herself.
“It is very important when we meet processes with precision, had the State chosen to call witnesses who were in the house first, that would have set the record straight in terms of the versions, in terms of who is in the dock as accused.
I have been saying this consistently, that those who were in the house at the time of the incident should have been called first, prior to anyone else,” Moonsamy said.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE