Meyiwa’s childhood friend Thwala is accused of tailoring his evidence

SENZO Meyiwa’s childhood friend Mthokozisi Thwala faced a gruelling day on the witness stand as legal counsels for the five men on trial for the murder of Meyiwa accused him of tailoring his evidence and pointing out suspects “willy nilly”.

As the trial resumed in the High Court on Thursday with the cross-examination of Thwala, he faced gruelling cross-examination from three of the defence counsels for the men on trial for the 2014 murder of the soccer player.

Advocate Charles Mnisi, the counsel for the third accused, Mthobisi Mncube, questioned Thwala as to why, in his version, Meyiwa was allegedly lying next to the couch in the living area after he was shot by the intruders, whereas a neighbour, Khaya Ngcatshe, who had testified earlier, indicated that he saw him (Meyiwa) lying in the kitchen unattended.

Thwala insisted that perhaps the neighbour came in when he was going to help another friend, Tumelo Madlala, open the door of the bedroom he had escaped to for safety after the gunshots went off.

He responded: “Maybe he (Ngcatshe) came in when I went to help Tumelo because there was no way I would leave my injured friend all alone.”

Furthermore, he stressed that the Vosloorus home of Kelly Khumalo, where the incident took place, was small, with Meyiwa being fairly tall, which would explain why he could have appeared to be in the kitchen.

“I am putting it to you that as the questions are coming, you are trying to tailor your version, which is contradictory to what Ngcatshe said, simply to suit the narrative you are trying to convey to this court,” Mnisi responded.

Mnisi also questioned Thwala on the type of firearm he described to officers during the investigations of the murder, in which he was said to have indicated that the dreadlocked intruder had come in wielding an “old revolver”.

Thwala insisted that during his interviews with the investigating team, he had never once described the type of gun, as he did not know the various kinds of firearms.

He went on to suggest that perhaps it was the officer who had brought up the name of the revolver during the interviews and decided to include the description of the firearm of her own volition.

Despite this assertion, Mnisi highlighted how improbable it would be for someone who was not inside the house to describe something they did not see or witness.

“I don’t know why she (Officer Steenkamp) wrote that; perhaps she can come and explain how she came about that description because I did not describe the type of gun they had.”

Things did not get any easier for Thwala as advocate Zithulele Nxumalo started off his cross-examination.

Nxumalo questioned Thwala about the differences in suspects pointed out at the various identity parades attended at the Jeppe Police Station and another in Pietermaritzburg.

Thwala tried to explain but all he did was point out the similar features that the suspects had in comparison to the intruders who came into the house on October 26, 2014.

It was at this point that Nxumalo retorted that Thwala, similar to Zandile Khumalo, had a tendency to point out people all “willy-nilly”.

Nxumalo will proceed with his cross-examination today.

The Star