This weekend marks exactly 10 years since football star Senzo Meyiwa was gunned down in an alleged contract killing in Vosloorus.
Meyiwa was visiting his girlfriend and mother of his child, singer Kelly Khumalo when he was shot and killed on October 26, 2014.
In 2020, five men — Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi; Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya; Mthobisi Prince Mncube; Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa; and Fisokuhle Nkani Ntuli were arrested on different occasions for his murder. They were all denied bail.
This was not the first time some of the murder-accused were arrested. Four of the men are behind bars serving sentences for unrelated crimes, including attempted murder, murder and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.
The trial, sitting in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, has been marred by delays after the sickly Judge Tshifiwa Maumela was removed in July 2023, in a bid to speed up the case and bring the matter to finality.
Retired Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng, who was ironically a former footballer having played for both Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, was roped in to hear the case and he started the trial from scratch and recalled witnesses who had already testified.
Witnesses included some of the people who were in the house when Meyiwa was shot, neighbours, police officers, ballistic experts, cellphone experts, medical practitioners and magistrates, among others.
Some of the witnesses had to be called after the main trial was suspended to focus on a trial-within-a-trial to determine if confessions made by Sibiya and Ntanzi, were made freely and voluntarily.
After months of hearing testimonies from officials who were involved in arresting, detaining, and taking confessions from the accused, Judge Mokgoatlheng ruled that the confessions were valid, and admissible in the high-stakes trial.
Speaking to IOL News at the time, legal commentator and defence attorney Nthabiseng Dubazana, from Dubazana Attorneys, said the admissions would form part of the record.
“What it actually means is that the court will consider the confessions when making a judgment and indicate that the confessions were done properly and the evidence is relevant,” Dubazana said.
“Not only that, the judge will compare what the accused said in court versus what is contained in the confessions. This can essentially be used against them.”
This would effectively put the State, as led by advocate George Baloyi, in a prime position to secure murder convictions against the accused, Dubazana said.
It’s still unclear when the case will be concluded, but since Mokgoatlheng took over, proceedings appear to have moved along at a faster pace with fewer interruptions.
Mokgoatlheng who proved to be a no-nonsense judge on several occasions would express his concern over unnecessary repeated delays in the trial.
During one of the delays, Mokgoatlheng told the court that Judge President Dunstan Mlambo fwanted the case to be finalised “because this case affects some persons and they want to know how it finishes”.
Meanwhile, Meyiwa’s family have rubbished damning allegations made against the soccer star’s former girlfriend, Khumalo, regarding her involvement in his murder.
Meyiwa’s brother, Sifiso Meyiwa, accused the leading investigator of being a liar and corrupt after officer Brigadier Bongani Gininda testified that two of the accused — Sibiya and Ntanzi — implicated Khumalo as the one who ordered them to kill Meyiwa.
In the confession statements, they claimed that Khumalo paid them R100,000 to carry out the alleged hit. Gininda said there was also cellphone evidence showing that Khumalo was in contact with the hitmen days before Meyiwa’s murder.
However, Sifiso Meyiwa said he was lying.
“I will keep on saying this until it’s proven because we’ve got evidence...I know Gininda is lying, this is how he operates, most people don’t know Brigadier Gininda,” he said.
“I know him, I’ve followed his cases...He’s lying, Kelly didn’t hire hitmen to kill Senzo.”
Sifiso told eNCA that he’s worked in a police station for over 20-years and he has seen how hitmen operate, and the murder scene where Senzo died doesn’t look like a work of professional a hitman.
“There’s no hitman who uses one bullet to kill their target...I’ve seen cases where hitmen killed people. No hitman comes in the house and then uses one bullet to kill their target especially if he has been paid,” he said.
“Even if you look at the accused, they are hitmen with previous cases and if they go to a place no one will be left alive, even kids are killed.”
Despite her alleged connection to the hitmen, Khumalo has not been arrested.
Presently, the trial is still on going and it was postponed to Monday, October 28, after one of the defending lawyers fell sick.
sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za
IOL News