By Karabo Rammutla
Tumelo Madlala was in the witness box on Friday when he was excused from giving further evidence at the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial – and he wept in relief.
Madlala was not a happy witness. Early on, he complained about the media and Judge Tshifiwa Maumela ruled that he should not be photographed.
And he is no stranger to weeping, having wept in a Netflix documentary about the killing of his friend.
Madlala was among the six people who were in the house when Meyiwa was shot, allegedly by intruders, at the Vosloorus home of singer Kelly Khumalo.
A new witness will now take the stand on Monday.
Although Madlala was excused, Judge Maumela gave him a warning.
The judge told him there were more people to testify so he should not interact with them.
Madlala’s time on the witness box was not easy. He faced tough grilling from defence advocates TT Thobane and Zandile Mshololo.
On Thursday, Mshololo made reference to docket 375.
Although Madlala laughed when Mshololo referenced the docket, he could have been rattled.
Docket 375 is where Madlala and those who were in the house when Meyiwa was killed are considered to be suspects.
Referring to the docket, Mshololo asked Madlala if he was trying to protect himself from a pending decision in the docket that he should be charged.
Friday saw Madlala being re-examined by state prosecutor Advocate George Baloyi.
Pictured above: Tumelo Madlala
