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Tumelo Madlala, the third witness for the State in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, returned to the witness stand on Monday and was questioned about remarks he made to police after his friend was killed.
Madlala had a difficult afternoon testifying after being forced to defend some of his claims to attorney Timothy Thobane, who is defending four of the five accused men.
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Thobane read a statement from Madlala in which he claimed that he never revealed that Longwe Twala killed Meyiwa because the latter was not in possession of a firearm on the day of the murder and fled the scene.
“I was, for the first time, to see Longwe Twala and I did not tell anyone or the Meyiwa family that Senzo was killed by Longwe Twala because he did not have a firearm with him. Instead, he ran away,” Thobane read.
“Why did you have to write that statement, who asked you about Longwe carrying a firearm or Longwe not carrying a firearm and shots being fired by Longwe … who asked you that question, that’s very crucial,” Thobane asked Madlala.
Madlala claimed he gave police many statements and did not fully recall each one.
He testified before the court that he never wrote any statements, instead letting the police interview him and record his answers.
Madlala claimed that the police officer who wrote the statement should be questioned despite the fact that he signed it.
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Thobane asked: “You accepted [that] this statement is yours. How did it come about that you said those things?”
To which Madlala answered: “You should ask that question to the person who took my statement, because I do not recall.”
Thobane had earlier accused Madlala of lying, claiming that he had identified one of the accused persons as Meyiwa’s killer after seeing him in the media but had overlooked him during an identity parade.
“I do not agree with that. Fortunately, I am not a TV person, or the media. I don’t believe in those things.
“And what happened is that that day, even though I don’t remember, he was wearing a jacket that had a hood. Even though I may not remember the colour … I know what I am talking about.
“And a person you have seen before, if you meet this person again it won’t be difficult to recognise that person. And I won’t tell lies about a person. Even that person knows,” Madlala replied.