State witness Warrant officer Thabo Mosia returned to the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday to address inconsistency in his previous testimony.
The defence in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial requested his return to clarify certain issues about his testimony.
Mosia, a former constable, had previously provided detailed accounts of how he collected and processed evidence from the Vosloorus home where the former Bafana Bafana captain was shot on 26 October 2014. The house belongs to Senzo Meyiwa's then-girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo.
The defence, however, questioned Mosia about his failure to collect critical evidence and alleged that the crime scene had already been compromised.
Mosia admitted that he left the Meyiwa murder scene to attend two other crime scenes before returning to the Khumalo household around 6 am on 27 October.
He clarified that he used a pocketbook to record his movements, which indicated that he returned to the scene at 10.25 am.
Under cross-examination, Advocate Zithulele Nxumalo, representing one of the accused, challenged Mosia about the disparities between his court testimony and his pocketbook which has recently been provided to the defence.
Mosia defended his testimony, claiming that he had to prepare without the pocketbook.
"I was on standby and when I prepared this evidence pertaining to this matter I was on incapacity leave. I had to go to Springs to search for documents that would assist me in preparing my evidence for this court.
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"But when I got to Springs I found that the documents had already been booked out by the provincial crime scene management. I could not even find my pocketbook... and that actually affected the manner in which I was trying to prepare to come to court," he said.
Mosia emphasised that he relied on statements he had made before testifying.
He admitted that there was confusion in his evidence toward the end of his previous testimony and suggested that an error may have occurred in his pocketbook entry regarding his arrival time at the crime scene during his second visit.
The trial continues.
Compiled by staff writer
