Warrant Officer Thabo Mosia has expressed his distress regarding the time he has spent testifying in the murder trial of former Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa, saying he’s tired and his body can’t take it anymore due to his chronic illness.
Mosia returned to the witness stand on Monday. He started his testimony on Wednesday and has been subjected to gruelling cross-examination from the defence since Thursday.
Mosia was the first crime scene investigator to arrive at the scene.
He was under cross-examination at the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Monday.
Mosia expressed his position after advocate Zithulele Nxumalo, who represents one of the five men accused of brutally killing Meyiwa, requested that he bring his pocketbook from the night of the incident so that he could see the entries he made.
Mosia said he doesn’t think he still has the pocketbook.
Nxumalo insisted that he bring the pocketbooks, as he wanted to use them to cross-examine him.
"The witness cannot just say he doesn’t have them. He must go and search for them and come back," Nxumalo said to the judge.
Advocate Charles Mnisi also stood up and said it shouldn’t be an issue to find pocketbooks because "registers cannot just grow legs and disappear".
In response, Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng said it's not strange for pocketbooks to go missing and other evidence, such as dockets.
"During my time at the Johannesburg High Court, you will find dockets of all people found guilty just go missing, but those who are innocent, their dockets are still there. I’m not saying let’s argue about it; I’m just saying I’ve seen it,’’ he said.
Mosia then took the opportunity to express his concerns about his time on the stand.
"I have a chronic health condition, this witness box made me very sick last year. I have a doctor’s note that explains my situation... I have been in this box for so long, and I can’t anymore. I don’t understand what more is needed from me now when I was just doing my work, my body cannot take it anymore," he said.
Mokgoatlheng told Mosia that he understood his position and said if the pocketbooks can’t be found, it won’t be something unfamiliar.
However, before releasing Mosia, Mokgoatlheng wanted to know what happened to pocketbooks after they had been filled.
"For you to get a new pocketbook, you must submit the old one... The old pocketbook is filed, it's filed by human resources management on their shelves. If it's lost, I have to write an affidavit," he said.
Meyiwa was killed while visiting his singer girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo, at her home in Vosloorus on October 26, 2014.
Earlier, Mosai testified that he did not perform a gun residue test on any of the people who were in the house, this includes Kelly Khumalo and her younger sister, Zandile, their mother, Ntombi Khumalo (MaKhumalo), Longwe Twala, Meyiwa's friends, Mthokozisi Thwala and Tumelo Madlala, Kelly's then four-year-old son, Christian, and Thingo, her daughter with Meyiwa.
The five accused in the Meyiwa murder trial are Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthobisi Mncube, Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa, and Fisokuhle Nkani Ntuli.
The trial continues on Tuesday with Colonel Thobeka Mhlahlo.
Mhlahlo compiled pictures that were taken at the crime scene.
According to Mosia, Mhlahlo discovered the bullet projectile on the kitchen counter on the morning of October 27, 2014.
IOL