Defense lawyer of accused number four in the Senzo Meyiwa is cross examining Zandile Khumalo in the trial. He started off by reading out all three statements that were made by the witness.

 

 

 

The lawyer did so in a bid to point out the inconsistencies in Zandile Khumalo’s testimonies. In one statement, the witness said they took Mthokozisi Thwala home to change his clothes, and that one of the intruders was dark in complexion.

She said the first gunshot hit the kitchen door, a second shot went off and she heard a third shot while in bathroom. Surprisingly, in another statement, Zandile Khumalo said she hit one of the suspects on the head with a crutch. Something she did not specify in the previous statement.

This is where the defense lawyer is having an issue with Khumalo. He argues that it seems these inconsistencies are pointing to the fact that the witness cannot be possibly telling the truth.

In her previous cross examination, the defense lawyer had put it to Zandile Khumalo that another witness was going to testify that a fight broke out between her and Longwe Twala. It is alleged that Senzo Meyiwa was then shot when he was trying to stop the two from fighting.

This line of questioning by the defense lawyer although it was slammed by the judge who asked what was he trying to prove, many said this need to be probed. Critics said if indeed there is a witness who is going to testify on that, then this trial is going to take a very interesting turn.

It could also put to rest whether the statement that there were intruders at the Khumalo’s family home when Meyiwa was shot is true or not. In another statement, Zandile Khumalo said she doesn’t know why Longwe Twala had said in an interview that the intruders were foreigners because they spoke Zulu very well.