By Mandhlazi Rodger
As the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial continues, Kelly Khumalo’s name has come up once more in court. This time, startling evidence was revealed against her. This is after a retired police specialist revealed that a few hours following the death of the former Bafana and Orlando Pirates captain, Kelly Khumalo’s phone memory was erased.
Following the state’s successful recall application, Colonel Lambertus returned to the witness stand on Monday before the Pretoria High Court. He was summoned back because the state wanted him to address concerns about his data and claimed cellphone conversations between accused number five, Fisokuhle Ntuli, and Khumalo that came to light during the Vodacom expert’s testimony.
Lambertus restated his original evidence, stating that Khumalo called friends. They include Kenny Kunene, who is now the leader of the Patriotic Alliance and the Transport MMC in Johannesburg. He added that she also called her other family members, after her late lover was murdered. His testimony led by prosecutor Advocate George Baloyi, Steyn said the cellphone information comes from a programme that cannot be manipulated.
“It will pick up a number and do the rest. I actually can’t do anything with the programme,” he said.
According to Steyn’s evidence, there was a communication between Khumalo and accused number five Ntuli. “Kelly rebooted her handset during the early morning hours after the incident, on 2014/10/27 that is why it did not have a complete memory of downloads of the phonebook. Everything on the device was deleted.
“This happened at 01:31:38 am, a day after Meyiwa was killed. Kelly constantly called family and friends. Senzo’s friends, Kenny Kunene, Khanya, Precious and her sister’s name is also on the list,” he said.
The court adjourned after the defence asked to have a meetup with the their ballistics expert. Suspects Muzikawukhalelwa Sibiya, Bongani Ntanzi, Mthobisi Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa, and Fisokuhle Ntuli are currently on trial for his murder. They have all entered pleas of not guilty.