Senzo Meyiwa’s long-time friend, Mthokozisi Thwala said he remained with the wounded former Bafana Bafana captain in the car when they arrived at hospital and he was not responsive.
“I squeezed his hand just to check whether he will squeeze me back, but unfortunately he didn’t hold me back, it was like he was already dead or was about to die,’’ he said.
Thwala was testifying on Wednesday at the North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria.
He explained circumstances linked to Meyiwa's fatal shooting at his singer girlfriend Kelly Khumalo’s home in Vosloorus.
He said after the intruder fired the first shot, he got scared and ran out of the house and went to the neighbour’s yard.
When he arrived at the neighbour’s, two men were already outside, and he told them there were intruders in the house.
“I then went back to the Khumalo house, and I found Senzo lying on the floor with a wound to his chest. He was gasping. I lifted his T-shirt and saw that he was bleeding. It wasn’t heavy bleeding. Someone gave me a towel to put pressure on the wound,” he said.
Thwala said they didn’t call for help because they noticed that he was still alive and they decided to rush him to Botshelong Hospital using his BMW X6.
“Kelly was driving fast, the rest of us were in the back with Senzo, he was bleeding. His blood stained my jeans, but the jeans were taken by police as evidence.
“On our way to Botshelong, he was gasping as if he wanted to say something. As we were about to reach Botshelong, I held his hand just to check if he would respond. He squeezed my hand back, and I knew he was still alive,’’ Thwala said.
Thwala said he performed the same exercise when they arrived at hospital, but this time Meyiwa didn’t respond.
“Nurses came out with the stretcher. He was then wheeled into the surgery room ... After what seemed like five or 10 minutes, the doctor came out and asked for an elderly person. Kelly's mother went, and I followed her. They then informed us that he had left us,” he said in a faint voice.
Meyiwa was gunned down on October 26, 2014 at the Khumalo homestead in an alleged botched robbery.
The people who were in the house on the day Meyiwa was murdered, were Khumalo and her younger sister, Zandile, their mother Ntombi Khumalo (MaKhumalo), Longwe Twala, Meyiwa’s friends, Mthokozisi Thwala and Tumelo Madlala, Kelly’s then four-year-old son, Christian, and Thingo, her daughter with Meyiwa.
Earlier, Thwala told the court that he was uncomfortable going to Kelly’s home the day the soccer star was killed.
State prosecutor advocate George Baloyi asked Thwala why he felt uncomfortable going to the Khumalo house.
He replied, saying: “I was also Mandisa’s friend, so it didn’t feel right for me to go to Senzo’s girlfriend’s place, whereas I know his wife”.
Thwala will continue with his testimony.
IOL