Meyiwa murder trial: Legal Aid refuses to cover some fees for defence's ballistics expert

JOHANNESBURG - The Pretoria High Court has heard that Legal Aid South Africa has refused to cover some of the fees for the defence's ballistics expert in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial.

The defence has been using the services of a private ballistics expert in order to challenge the State's evidence.

According to the State's ballistics expert, the gun belonging to the third accused, Mthobisi Mncube, has been positively linked to the bullet found at the scene of Meyiwa's murder.

Mncube is one of five men accused of murdering the Bafana Bafana captain in October 2014.

The fees for the defence's ballistics expert are being covered by Legal Aid South Africa, as four of the five accused are represented by Legal Aid lawyers.

As a result, the expert, Dave Pieterse, has been sitting in court since Mangena's cross-examination by the lawyer for each accused.

However, on Thursday, the court heard from Mncube’s lawyer, advocate Charles Mnisi, that the entity had communicated that they would not be paying Pieterse for all the days that he has been in court.

That is because the ballistics evidence presented by the State only implicated Mncube and none of the other accused.

After an hour-long adjournment, the defence agreed to settle this matter after the court adjourns.