Cele weighs in on dramatic arrest of Advocate Teffo
POLICE Minister Bheki Cele has requested a full report from national police commissioner Fannie Masemola on the arrest of Advocate Malesela Teffo, the legal representative of accused 1 to 4 in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial in court yesterday.
Cele’s spokesperson Lirandzu Themba said last night that Cele also wanted details regarding the manner in which the arrest was conducted by the police.
His arrest came after the court was told that Teffo had been allegedly intimidated since the watching brief of Kelly Khumalo’s lawyer Magdalene Moonsamy was suspended. As proceedings were set to resume following the lunch adjournment, the defence team said it had received threatening calls.
The instructing attorney for Teffo said that since the watching brief was called off, he had been receiving threatening calls in the middle of the night.
Someone had called the team and asked if they knew a certain judge, following which they simply hung up.
He said they received another call, but this time the person did not say anything; all he could hear was shuffling papers in the background.
A request was made for the matter to adjourn as Teffo had allegedly been threatened and could not continue with cross-examination of State witness.
But as the matter ended for the day, Teffo was served with a warrant of arrest inside the courtroom and dragged out.
During the commotion, it was said Teffo was set to appear in a Johannesburg court today, but the charges were not indicated at the time of his arrest.
Earlier, state prosecutor Advocate George Baloyi raised an objection to the line of questioning by Teffo.The State asked the defence be curbed from asking State witness Sergeant Thabo Johannes Mosia hypothetical questions.
Mosia took the stand as one of the first forensic officers on the scene on the night Meyiwa was shot on October 26, 2014. Mosia was responsible for collecting exhibits on the scene.
Baloyi said the defence should pose questions on DNA results or if the scene had been tampered with, to the relevant State witnesses.
Earlier, Teffo asked Mosia why he did not collect a walking stick as he alleged it had been used to attack one of the perpetrators. Mosia said he did not do so because
people in the house told him it belonged to one of the victims. Teffo alleged that the officer who initially reported to the scene
– a Brigadier Ndlovu – acted on instruction following a meeting by senior police officials alongside then community safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane.
He alleged a meeting was held with people in the house alongside two senior officials and Nkosi-Malobane – resulting in tampering of the scene prior to Mosia's arrival.
This was why Teffo believed Mosia only collected and took photos as directed to by Ndlovu, he said.
This was refuted by Mosia, insisting he had no such knowledge.
The defence also wanted to know why no photographs were taken of the second bedroom where the victims were allegedly kept when forensic evidence was being collected.
Teffo insisted Khumalo and the others were not there when the forensic expert arrived, but at the Mulbarton home Khumalo shared with the soccer player.
Teffo said evidence will be led that the shooting was just after 7pm, but Mosia was only called five hours later due to the meeting and scene tampering.