Court hears Meyiwa witness ‘seeking publicity’
The attorney representing the media in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial believes the reluctance of the latest witness to bar the media from broadcasting her testimony could be a mere publicity stunt.
The witness, who cannot yet be named because she has not taken the stand in the High Court in Pretoria, has described herself as a "well-known public figure".
She has brought an application to prevent the media from covering her evidence live, telling the court she is nervous about testifying in a room filled with cameras.
Dan Rosengarten, on behalf of the media, said on Wednesday that she has failed to bring any tangible evidence to prove that her life is under threat.
"We don't know why witness number one is scared. There is nothing, has she been threatened? Has anyone phoned her and said well if you say, X, Y, Z we are out to get you? There is nothing. We just got a bland statement that she is scared.
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"Well. my lord, I pause and ask if this is merely a publicity stunt for someone who is very active on social media and whose image is on social media."
Rosengarten argued that the witness has been active on social media and thus her objections cannot be justified.
He quoted an Instagram post the witness had uploaded in 2022.
That post attracted more than 2000 replies and read: "After work I had a late afternoon nap and had a dream where we as a family had decided that we don't want any media presence in court when we testify. Not even our voices should be heard so we don't want to waste anymore of the people's time. So we would rather testify to the court alone because they are the only ones who have not found us guilty. Granted, my biggest fear is that all my dreams always come true."
Rosengarten accused the witness of objecting to media coverage based on a dream.
"She says nothing about fearing for her life."
Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela is expected to make a ruling on Thursday.
