The Senzo Meyiwa murder trial in the High Court in Pretoria has again stalled over a dispute about cellphone records, with legal teams arguing on 20 August 2026 over whether data belonging to the late Mabhungu Ntuli should be admitted as evidence against accused number three, Mthobisi Mncube.
Five men are on trial for the October 2014 shooting of former Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa, who was killed in Vosloorus on 26 October 2014. The case has dragged on for years, marked by repeated delays, contested evidence, and shifting witness accounts.
According to SABC News, the State wants to use Ntuli’s cellphone records to challenge Mncube’s version of events. The defence has opposed the application, setting up a legal fight over whether the data is admissible and what it can prove.
A witness under cross-examination, whose name has not been released in the available reporting, told the court that two devices linked to numbers ending in 0821 and 8169 were not connecting through the same tower coverage area. “They were not within the same coverage area of the towers,” the witness said, as reported by MDNtv.
That evidence matters because tower data can only place a phone within a general coverage zone, not at an exact location. Any claim about where a specific person was physically standing based on tower records remains unverified in the reporting available.
Advocate Zithulele Nxumalo, representing one of the accused, told the court he would not hold proceedings hostage over the disputed application. “My lord, I suggest that my colleague is correct, but for the progress of this case, I suggest that we particularly for purposes of that application that we postpone it until the 31st of August 2026 when the witnesses are here,” Nxumalo said, according to SABC News.
SABC News first reported on 20 July 2026 that the trial had resumed after a court recess, with heads of argument expected over the testimony of witness Qiniselani Buthelezi. That procedural step paved the way for the subsequent cellphone evidence dispute.
The Meyiwa trial has gripped South Africa for over a decade. Meyiwa was a national sporting figure, and the long wait for resolution has frustrated a public weary of delayed justice in high-profile murder cases.
What remains unverified is the current procedural status of the trial after the 20 August session, as the full text of the latest SABC live update page has not been independently corroborated by a second source. The specific identities of the holders of the devices ending in 0821 and 8169 are also not confirmed by at least two sources.
Cape Flats News will check for updates from the Pretoria High Court on 31 August 2026, when the matter is next scheduled to be heard.