A scuffle broke out between a prison warder and some of the accused in the Senzo Meyiwa trial at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
This after the prison warder, who introduced himself as Vusi Jele in court when asked by presiding Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng, tried to reprimand some of the accused not to sit on top of the court’s benches.
The scuffle initially involved a warden who introduced himself as Jele, three of the five accused, Mthobisi Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Fisokuhle Ntuli.
The clash happened during the adjournment of the ongoing trial within a trial, which is currently listening to the alleged confessions of the first and second accused, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya and Bongani Ntanzi.
According to Jele, this is not the first time that he reprimanded the accused in the manner that they sit in court during the adjournment, and that they have been uncooperative in the past.
“I called them during the adjournment at their cells, but they were hauling at me. They told me that it is not his job, but his job is to escort them to court. They then said to me sizokushaya thina (we will beat you up) if u sondela la (come closer),” said Vusi.
He told the court that when he tried to approach them, accused number four tried to punch him before he was joined by the other two accused. Judge Mokgoatlheng reprimanded all those involved in the scuffle and instructed them to respect the court’s decorum.
“My only abomination is that we’re all adults, and we must behave like adults. That gentleman Vusi has a job to do, if he does it out of the bounds of the decorum of the court, obviously he’ll be wrong. But from what he is demonstrating to me, he’s also responsible. Let’s behave ourselves,” warned Mokgoatlheng.
He also explained that there is nothing wrong with stretching during the court adjournment, but it must be done in an appropriate manner.
Meanwhile, the defence is challenging the state’s version that the suspects voluntarily confessed to Meyiwa’s killing. They’re also questioning the movements of the vehicles that ferried the suspects to a crime scene, arguing that they were tortured during these trips.
