Accused number 3, Mthobisi Prince Mncube, may have been the first intruder who broke into the Khumalo family home in Vosloorus on the evening of 26 October 2014, a court has heard on Thursday. State witness Tumelo Madlala had earlier named accused number 2, Bongani Ntazi, as one of the assailants. This is after Madlala…
Accused number 3, Mthobisi Prince Mncube, may have been the first intruder who broke into the Khumalo family home in Vosloorus on the evening of 26 October 2014, a court has heard on Thursday.
State witness Tumelo Madlala had earlier named accused number 2, Bongani Ntazi, as one of the assailants.
This is after Madlala earlier pointed out Ntanzi as the tall guy who was pressed against the wall by Meyiwa the guy Madlala had stood up and punched on his face while his back was against the wall before a shot went off. In the post-lunch proceedings, TT Thobane representing accused 1 to 4, began by asking Madlala on which hand the first intruder had the gun when he stormed into the house wearing a scotch hat and a brown or caramel jacket.
“I think on his right hand,” replied Madlala. Thobane put it to the witness that Ncube was left-handed, to which Madlala responded, “I don’t know about that. However, when it was put to Madlala that on the day of the shooting the 38-year-old Ncube, who’s currently serving 35 years for a different crime, didn’t have dreadlocks, Madlala disputed this.
“Those are lies,” he claimed.
According to Madlala, the first intruder had short dreadlocks as per the identikit that was drawn days after the incident. Thobane spent time trying to punch holes in the witness’s version, which is also the state’s case, that two intruders stormed into the house and demanded cellphones and money, moments before a scuffle between those who were in the house ensued resulting in the fatal shot that took Meyiwa’s life.
Madlala dismissed any other version as lies and made up, insisting Meyiwa was not accidentally shot by one of the people who were in the house. According to Thobane, the gun that killed Meyiwa was first produced by Longwe Twala who arrived angry at the fact that Meyiwa was having a romantic relationship with his girlfriend at the time, Zandi Khumalo who is the sister of Meyiwa’s girlfriend and mother of his daughter.
