The court case against five men accused of the Murder of Bafana Bafana captain, Senzo Meyiwa has hit a snag after it was postponed to next year for the new defence lawyer to familiarise himself with the case.
The first two suspects Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya and Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, terminated the mandate of their legal representative, Tshepo Thobane on Monday.
The pair appointed a new defence lawyer, Sipho Ramosepele and the matter was postponed to 2 May 2023 to allow him to familiarise the case.
“We can’t proceed as we had intended to. Mr Ramosepele will have to be provided with transcripts of all proceedings from the beginning. He will also need time to look into the docket and to acquaint himself with the transcript of the proceedings from the beginning for those reasons as I have indicated, we are not to proceed with the , said Judge Tshifiwa Maumela.
The five men on trial are: from accused number 1 to accused number 5, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthobisi Prince Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Sifisokuhle Nkani Ntuli.
They have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, unlawful possession of a firearms and ammunition.
The matter should have been heard from 14 November until 2 December this year. But it has now been postponed to 2 May 2023.
Four of the five men were initially represented by Advocate Malesela Teffo who has now been struck off the roll and barred from practising law.
Then came Advocate Tshepo Thobane who has now been axed by his clients.
But an unfazed Thobane said termination of contracts are common in the legal fraternity and that being terminated by a client could be a blessing in disguise.
“All I can say is that every client has the right to change their mind so there are no bad feelings, that is how the profession is. We are in the profession and we work with different legal representatives, if the client feels they will be better with another legal representative it is not a problem. It is common and it can be a blessing in disguise somehow,” said Thobane.
“It is not a big deal. We can’t fight over that. I am not as upset about it and he must not feel bad about it. But that is how the profession goes. Tomorrow someone might says Mr Thobane, I want you to represent me. But just like legal aid, if someone drops legal aid and then wants to go back to legal aid there are terms and conditions. The same thing applies to all of us in the profession.”
Meyiwa was gunned down in an alleged botched robbery at his singer girlfriend Kelly Khumalo’s home in Vorsloorus in 2014.
