Defence in Meyiwa trial wants Kelly Khumalo to testify

The defence team in the Senzo Meyiwa Murder trial will file an urgent application to ensure that Kelly Khumalo has her day in court.

The move comes after the State revealed that it doesn’t intend to bring her forward as a witness.

Khumalo’s whirlwind romance with the footballer made headlines in the years leading up to his death.

She was among those present the night Meyiwa was gunned down at her family home in October 2014.

The defence say they believe she needs to tell them her version of events.

Meanwhile tensions ran high in the Pretoria High Court as state witness Zandile Khumalo resumed her cross-examination yesterday.

Zandile who has so far kept a cool head – told the court she would not tolerate defence lawyer Zithulele Nxumalo’s tone as he addressed her.

The defence also scrutinised how Longwe Twala knew the exact details of Senzo Meyiwa’s injuries, despite allegedly being the first person to flee the murder scene.

In statements read out to the court, Zandile Khumalo says she was surprised to hear Twala mention the footballer’s chest injury during a radio interview, despite him not having been in the room when Meyiwa was gunned down.

The singer, who’d been dating Twala at the time, says she was surprised that Twala ran away when the alleged intruders ambushed them at her home in Vosloorus, leaving her vulnerable.

The National Prosecuting Authority will decide whether to prosecute Zandile Khumalo and her sister Kelly Khumalo as suspects in the murder once the current trial comes to a conclusion.

Zandile Khumalo’s cross-examination continues in the high court in Pretoria today. Article by Naomi Kobbie