The murder trial against five men accused of the murder of former Bafana Bafana captain, Senzo Meyiwa, was once again postponed until the 22nd of April 2025, at the Pretoria High Court, following what was meant to be its resumption, after being pushed back for two months.
This as the lawyer of accused one, Muzi Sibiya, Advocate Charles Mnisi, told the court he was not ready to proceed, despite having been given two months to familiarise himself with the facts concerning charges against Sibiya.
Mnisi took over as Sibiya’s defence representative, after his former lawyer, Advocate Thulani Mngomezulu, passed away in December last year.
During today’s court sitting, Mnisi cited his workload as one of the main reasons for his unpreparedness.
‘’My Lord I have done my best, my life came to a standstill.
I had to do everything related to this case however despite my fervent efforts, I’m not ready my Lord to proceed.
The court will also be aware that we confirmed with the state that the amount of work that I needed to cover there was almost more than 40 000 pages.
The last time I did assure the court that, come today I will be ready, but I admit that I may have underestimated the number of documents that I had to be content with.
The work that I needed to cover was just too voluminous,’’ Mnisi shared his burden with the court.
This however did not bode well with presiding officer, Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng, who accused Mnisi for what he termed as “the abuse of the justice system.”
Mokgoatlheng’s frustration stems from the constant postponement of the case, adding that it gives the wrong impression to the public.
‘’There are people who are seeing this and saying I am too lenient, or I enjoy this case.
Everybody started with this case except me.
You were there when Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela was presiding over this case.
I also read the records and now it surprises me when an advocate as experienced as Mnisi cannot read 40 000 copies in two months,’’ Mokgoatlheng expressed his dissatisfaction.
A visibly irritated Mokgoatlheng agreed to what he called a ‘final postponement’ set for next Tuesday, but Mnisi interjected warning that if he’s required to resume with the trial next week, then he’ll request to be excused from representing Sibiya.
Despite his threats, Judge Mokgoatlheng continued with his ruling and ordered Mnisi to be ready next week Tuesday, as he was given the ample time of two months and three weeks to prepare for the trial.
It’s still unclear if the trial will proceed on the said date, especially since Mnisi didn’t prove not guarantee that he’ll be in good standing to continue with the cross examination of state witness and lead investigator, Brigadier Bongani Gininda.
