Cops did not immediately see Khumalo household where Meyiwa was killed as crime scene

Sgt Timothy Mathebula, who attended to the crime scene in Vosloorus in October 2014 where Senzo Meyiwa was fatally shot, says it only occurred to him that the house was a crime scene when he saw Meyiwa’s body in the hospital.

Meyiwa was fatally shot on October 26 2014. Those who were with him at the time of the murder — including friends and his then-girlfriend Kelly Khumalo — allege Meyiwa was killed in a botched robbery.

Mathebula took to the stand on Wednesday telling his version of how he responded to the scene, with three colleagues.

He testified that when they responded to a shooting in progress at the house they met Themba Khumalo who introduced himself as Kelly’s uncle. He said Themba informed them Senzo had been shot.

Mathebula said they then entered the house through the kitchen to inspect.

“We checked. We saw a mix-up. There were alcohol cans and it looked like there was a party or something,” he said.

He said upon realising that people with information were at the hospital, they asked Themba to lock up, leaving him behind and rushed to the hospital. He said at the hospital, they were taken into a room by a nurse and told Meyiwa had died.

“When we went inside the room, we found him lying on a stretcher facing upward. She informed us that he was dead. I then requested a declaration confirming that Senzo was late. When she finished giving [it to] us, I asked where they had shot him and she pointed out that there was a bullet hole on his front [chest]. That is when it clicked to me that the house was a scene,” Mathebula said.

He testified that when they returned to the house with MaKhumalo — Kelly’s mother — he then cordoned off the crime scene.

He told the court that in the house, MaKhumalo picked up a hat on the floor, stating that one suspect had it on.

He said they also noticed that the door was damaged and noticed blood stains in the dining room next to the couch.

He testified that they were later excused from the scene when the task team arrived.

During cross-examination with advocate Zandile Mshololo, Mathebula said they didn’t immediately secure the crime scene on their first visit because they had not spotted  any cartridges.

He said, at that time, he did not regard the hat and crutches they found on the floor as exhibits, as they didn’t know who they belonged to.

Mathebula conceded that he didn’t record that Kelly’s mother, Ntombi Khumalo, who had returned to the house with them after Meyiwa was confirmed dead, had touched the hat that allegedly belonged to one of the suspects.

Mshololo quizzed why he did not disclose that as it amounted to tampering with evidence.

In response, Mathebula said he did not think of it.

Responding to a question on how an officer who is a first responder at a scene is meant to conduct his duties, Mathebula said: “you check around, look for information and if the information is positive, you cordon off the scene.”

Mathebula told the court that when they left the hospital and headed back to the crime scene, he and the other officers travelled with Kelly’s mother and nobody else.

This is contrary to neighbour Nthabiseng Mokete’s earlier testimony that she returned with the police and MaKhumalo from the hospital.

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