How Gininda concluded there were intruders when Senzo Meyiwa was murdered

DNA evidence, eyewitness statements, cellphone and network tower evidence are some of the factors the lead investigator in the Senzo Meyiwa murder case considered in concluding there were intruders in the Vosloorus home the night Meyiwa was killed.

On Thursday investigating officer Brig Bongani Gininda again took the stand in the Pretoria high court, where the state led his evidence-in-chief on his investigations into the matter.

He has previously testified in a trial within a trial when he said investigations revealed Meyiwa was murdered in a contract assassination or hit rather than a robbery gone wrong.

Bongani Ntanzi, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Mthobisi Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Fisokuhle Ntuli are on trial for Meyiwa's murder in October 2014. They face charges of murder, attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of ammunition.

Meyiwa was with his girlfriend Kelly Khumalo at her mother Ntombi’s home in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni. They were relaxing over lunch and watching a soccer match with Kelly’s sister Zandile, Zandile’s then-boyfriend Longwe Twala and two of Meyiwa’s friends visiting from KwaZulu-Natal. The occupants of the house told police two robbers entered, demanding cash and cellphones, before Meyiwa was shot in a scuffle with one of the intruders.

Gininda, from the police's cold case unit, was assigned to the case in 2018.

He testified that after his appointment the investigating team split due to disagreement about whether intruders entered the Vosloorus home, leading to another team opening a second controversial docket.

The docket opened in 2019, of defeating the ends of justice, lists the occupants in the house during the shooting as suspects.

Gininda said though he had first though there were no intruders during the commission of the crime, after analysing the docket he believed there were intruders.

He pointed out it had come up that Twala might have been the shooter but he had to look at facts in the docket. That led him to conclude there were intruders.

Cellphone information informed his belief that there were intruders on the day Meyiwa died.

During the robbery a cellphone belonging to Kelly was taken by the intruders.

Through cellphone records,  Gininda said he was able to establish all the occupants were in the house before the incident and afterwards they moved to the hospital (as picked up by the cellphone tower).

However, he said the evidence showed the stolen phone moved in the other direction.

“If there were no intruders, I wouldn't have expected the phone to go in a different direction, it was going to be in the hospital.”

Gininda said he also looked at the DNA that might have been left by an intruder.

He testified that from the hat allegedly left behind by one of the intruders, experts were able to eliminate the DNA of the occupants in the house as owners of the hat.

“That was also an indication that there was an intruder and we did not know who it was.”

Gininda said he also analysed Twala's car movements and cellphone tower pings which showed his location at a clinic and not the area where the stolen cellphone was.

He also looked at the evidence given by eyewitnesses, the neighbours, and those people in the house.

From the neighbours' statements, it was clear they saw people running out during the commotion.

The neighbours' description of the intruders had similarities to the descriptions provided by those inside the house during the murder.

Gininda believes that given the neighbours had no relationship with the people in the house except being neighbours, they would not lie.

He believed the neighbours were telling the truth of what they saw.

The reports by the first responding officers also played a role in Gininda's conclusion that there were intruders.

They had indicated they received a report that there was a shooting and the perpetrators ran in the direction of a park.

Another factor he considered was the negative results of the ballistic tests done on Longwe Twala's father, Sello Twala's gun.

He said this was due to rumours that the gun was used to murder Meyiwa. 

“In the docket there was no statement that says there is a witness who saw Longwe or Kelly or anyone in the house killing Senzo. All the statements speak of intruders. No statement under oath or suggestions indicate the deceased was killed by anybody in the house.”

Considering all these factors, Gininda said he was convinced there were intruders who came into the house and his task was to find the perpetrators. 

“I don’t know how one would conclude there were no intruders. I still maintain there were intruders,” he said.

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