Attorney Nel hopes that the Senzo Meyiwa trial won’t be postponed any longer

Private prosecutor representing the Senzo Meyiwa family, Advocate Gerrie Nel says they hope there will be no more delays in trial now that a new judge has been appointed.

Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng is set to preside over the murder trial, replacing Judge Tshifiwa Maumela who was suspended last week.

The trial was postponed last month, with Gauteng deputy judge president Aubrey Ledwaba saying Maumela was not available due to ill health and may not be available for a long time. Adv Nel from AfriForum’s Private Prosecutions Unit says the trail will start over.

“The sooner we get to the relevant evidence, the evidence that link the accused to the commission of the offence, the sooner we get the answers to all these questions, the sooner our clients will be able to start this process of closure.

The one issue is that the evidence that was led will not be admissible in the trial in a sense that the judge will just read and accept it, but it may become relevant if counsel challenge the evidence. So this is a long delay and it will be difficult for the witnesses to re-testify having testified and having been cross-examined already.”