I punched intruder, and a shot was fired, says Meyiwa’s close friend Madlala

Tumelo Madlala, one of former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa‘s closest friends, took the stand to testify as a state witness at North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday. 

Madlala is the third state witness but the first to testify on circumstances inside the house in Vosloorus, where the incident occurred in October 2014.

During his testimony, Madlala recalled that Meyiwa picked him up hours before he was gunned down at the house of Kelly Khumalo’s mother in Vosloorus?

Madlala said a short man with dreadlocks speaking IsiZulu stormed in as they were sitting in the dining room and demanded money and cellphones from everyone. 

MADLALA’S EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT

“In a blink of an eye Longwe Twala pushed the armed intruder and ran out of the house. While Longwe was out, Kelly ran away into another room and hid there,” explained Madlala. 

“While I got up, I saw another guy in the kitchen (second intruder), and Senzo was holding his arm, pressing him against the wall.

“My intention was to get out of the house, and when I was there (with Senzo), I also punched the intruder on the left side of his face, and a shot was fired.

“I then ran away to a bedroom to take refuge there, there were a lot of clothes on the bed, and I hid my phone there.

“I also looked around trying to find a window so I could escape, however, I could not as they had burglar bars,” added Madlala.

The proceedings were adjourned in the afternoon and will continue on Wednesday morning. 

The trial started in April and so far, the State has called three witnesses. Both police officers who arrived on the scene after the shooting and Madlala. 

Next month will mark 8 years since the former Orlando Pirates goalkeeper and captain was shot