Johannesburg - Orlando Pirates soccer player Senzo Meyiwa was found lying in the kitchen facing upwards after he was shot, allegedly by robbers.
This was according to State witness and neighbour of the Vosloorus home of Kelly Khumalo, where Meyiwa was shot in October 2014.
Khaya Stanley Ngcatshe was called to testify after the legal defence for the five accused men and the State concluded with the cross-examination of Zandile Khumalo, Kelly’s sister, after almost a week of testimony.
Ngcatshe’s evidence was that he had heard a lot of noise in the Khumalo home just after 7pm, which led him to look out the window into his neighbour’s house. He told the court he and his father went outside their home only to witness a young man jumping the wall into their yard.
The man allegedly told Ngcatshe and his father that an incident had occurred at the Khumalo house and it was not him, after which he jumped back over the wall.
After hearing that there were people seen running down the street, Ngcatshe said he and some neighbours proceeded to a nearby park to see if they could see anything. When they returned, he said he was requested by someone to call the police, at just after 8pm, and it was at this point that they went to the Khumalo house.
Upon arrival at the house, Ngcatshe said he was met by the image of Meyiwa lying face up just after the kitchen with a wound to his chest.
“When we got in at the door, that’s where we saw Senzo lying down in the passage by the kitchen.”
This was contrary to Khumalo’s version, where she indicated that from her bathroom, where she was hiding, she saw Meyiwa moving from the kitchen to the sitting room, closely followed by her sister, Kelly. She also described how Meyiwa ended up hiding between the TV stand and the couch.
The neighbour, however, said that after finding the Orlando Pirates player on the floor in the kitchen, he and a few other neighbours who came to the home tried to get him to sit up.
“We rushed with other neighbours and tried to get him to sit upright, and from there, there were talks that he should be rushed to the hospital.”
He said a number of people ended up helping to place Meyiwa in his BMW X6, which was driven by Kelly to a nearby hospital.
Afterwards, he said they (his brother and neighbours) went to the hospital to find out what had become of the soccer player, only to be told upon arrival that he had died.
Earlier in the day, the court heard presiding judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng state that he was confused by the various versions from the legal counsels of the five men.
Whether it was to the effect that no intruders came into the house that night, or, alternatively, if it was that someone inside the house had disarmed the intruders and ended up shooting the soccer player, which he questioned as he said it appeared that efforts were made to get Meyiwa to the hospital.
Another issue Mokgoatlheng took up was how it was possible for such an incident to take place in a township, and yet no one saw people running out in the streets.
The trial continues today with the testimony of Ngcatshe.
The Star