Teffo vs Cele latest: This is why advocate claims he was targeted by SAPS

Advocate Malesela Teffo made the bold claim that Police Minister Bheki Cele was behind his arrest in court on Thursday 28 April, saying “Cele did not want him in the case” of soccer star Senzo Meyiwa.

ADVOCATE TEFFO: ‘BHEKI CELE DOESN’T WANT ME IN THIS CASE’ 

Teffo is representing four of the five hitmen accused of killing former Bafana Bafana captain and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa. Meyiwa was said to be killed in an armed robbery at the home of his then-girlfriend Kelly Khumalo’s mom on 26 October 2014 in Vosloorus.

Mzansi was left in shock after Teffo was arrested in the courtroom right after court adjourned for the day on Thursday 28 April. The advocate was arrested for allegedly failing to show up in court for another case, but during his arrest, he claimed that he was being arrested because “Cele does not want him to be in the case”.

“They are arresting me because I am in this case. Bheki Cele doesn’t want me in this case,” he said according to TimesLive.

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Teffo’s instructing attorney, Tshepo Thobane, claims that Teffo’s arrest was part of an intimidation tactic to distract them from the case. He went on to question the timing of the arrest as the warrant was dated for 22 January 2022.

“They wanted to stop us from introducing a new case against those people in the house. Even today, the prosecutor stopped us from asking questions pertaining to that case. Unfortunately, we will and the truth will come out. Whether I am alive or dead, whether Teffo is alive or dead — another attorney will take over this matter and move it forward. The truth will come out,” said Thobane to TimesLive.

The advocate has since been released on bail of R10 000.

WHY TEFFO COULD THINK CELE IS BEHIND HIS ARREST 

Teffo may have claimed Cele was behind his arrest, but the police minister says he did not know about the arrest. Cele said that he only heard about the arrest from his spokesperson Lirandzu Themba afterwards.

“I left Pretoria in the morning and was in Pimville at 8am and I left the area a little after 3pm. I received a message from spokesperson Lirandzu saying that the advocate has been arrested,” said Cele to Newzroom Afrika.

“At 3:41pm, I saw the message that the accusation is that the arrest is pushed by Bheki Cele and others. I immediately contacted the national commissioner to get a full report of what happened and I will wait for that report. Until I know what happened, I am not able to comment on this matter,” he continued.

So, why would Teffo accuse Cele of being behind his arrest? Well, according to Newzroom Africa there were also previously allegations that surfaced about senior police officers reportedly “contaminating evidence and are busy covering up”.

Cele responded to this, saying that Teffo has the platform to “prove all those things”.

“The case is in court, the advocate is in court, all those things must be said in court. Why do you have a parallel trial? Let’s wait for the outcomes because he [Teffo] has the platform to prove all those things, and then we have the outcome. I’m not going to try the case out of court when the advocate is doing that. Let’s wait, let’s put those things in court,” he said to Newzroom Afrika.