Just caught up with yesterday's event having been away yesterday - ironically, at a funeral.
i was not surprised that Masipa dismissed a lot of the state's evidence - the eye/ear witness testimony (humans are notoriously bad witnesses), the stomach contents (doesn't prove anything either way), the whatsapp messages (worrying, but ultimately don't prove anything).
the big problem in the state's case was always the timeline - the bat vs gunshot sounds. Nel never put together a state timeline and didn't explain the first set of noises. Roux did, albeit by being economical with what bits of evidence he selected.
So I'm not surprised Masipa concluded the state had not proven that OP intended to kill RS (although I believe he probably did).
what I don't understand is how, firing four shots into a small area having armed himself, and having shown that he went through a conscious decision making process beforehand (which Masipa concluded he had), this does not mean he is guilty of murder.
i do, though, wish people would refrain from making ridiculous allegations that Masipa has been bribed or whatever. That is so disrespectful.