Marawa on what the Senzo Netflix doccie gives South Africans as trial begins

Robert Marawa believes the Senzo Meyiwa Netflix documentary series packages the murder and aftermath of the beloved Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates captain into a digestible bundle to help South Africans understand it better.

Sports presenter Marawa — interviewed in Senzo: Murder of a Soccer Star, which aired from Friday — said he is certain the makers of the documentary will produce a second season once the trial of the five accused that started at the Pretoria high court on Monday is concluded.

The documentary examines the theories that emerged after Meyiwa's murder in front of four adult friends and girlfriend Kelly Khumalo in the living room of her house in Vosloorus on October 26 2014.

It combines reporting and footage produced in the SA media while an investigation took an excruciating eight years to yield results with original interviews and lays them out in a single place to contextualise the saga.

“I watched the five episodes in one sitting — it's obviously that gripping,” Marawa said.

“My role was as someone who interacted with Senzo on that rainy night where he played a heroic role for Pirates [in their 4-1 Telkom Knockout win against Ajax Cape Town on October 25 2014, the night before his murder]. He was spectacular in that match.”

Marawa had also hosted Khumalo and Meyiwa on the SuperSport show Thursday Night Live with Marawa days before that, where the singer performed Asine, a song about a woman accused of killing her husband, which sparked conspiracy theories and conjecture later.

“I was oblivious and didn't know what it meant. It was a strange meaning when you look back at its lyrics, retrospectively,” Marawa said.

“But also just getting Senzo to make the introduction to the artist, his girlfriend, which I did off the cuff. And you can see how shy he is, with a nervous cough, and in the end I was like, 'Oh, thank God that's done', and he flips his head over with laughter. That indicated someone who was in love and infatuated, and it worked.

“I think the series-makers also knew that Senzo's father [Sam] spoke a lot on my [radio] show because he was desperate to find help.

“He would text me and ask if I could connect him directly to [then-sports minister] Fikile Mbalula, who had made promises, including at the funeral, about cracking the case. I did the best I could.

“When I think he realised he was not going get joy from Mbalula he would ask if I could help him contact Mama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. I suppose in his mind he was thinking this was no longer just a police thing, he needed a higher authority to help speed up the case.

“The issue of who pulled the trigger, I mean, I would never know. It's just the lack of willingness from the authorities to interrogate, in eight years now, especially all the people who were inside the house — because ultimately that's where you’ll find the answer.”

The Meyiwa murder case has been a jigsaw puzzle missing most of its pieces which South Africans have tried to put together.

Marawa believes the documentary helps assemble the available pieces into a clearer picture.

But a trial and possible conviction of five alleged hitmen will not necessarily satisfy the country's yearning for closure.

“Something you have to focus on is that a seasoned prosecutor-slash-investigative legal mind like [AfriForum private prosecuting unit head] Gerrie Nel has been consistent about one thing.

“I don't think Gerrie, one way or the other is interested, like we all are, on who pulled the trigger. His interest is the mastermind.

“He has declared that it's a hit, so a hit based on what and from who? And he keeps saying that the mastermind needs to be drawn into the charge sheet.

“The documentary has got people talking. That's why it's been a trending topic for over a week — it's the most-watched SA Netflix offering.

“And it's because it digs deep. People always criticise things, and might say it doesn't offer anything new, but it does.

“Visually now, people get to see who Senzo's friends were, and are they being genuine, are those crocodile tears and they're withholding critical information? They get to see Senzo's wife [Mandisa Mkhize], possibly for the first time.

“The way [Meyiwa's biographer Sabelo] 'Soweto' Mandlanzi narrates how he wrote the book reveals that a lot of different angles were brought in to tell the story.

“I think in respect of the trial they could have gone deeper with the theories. But I don't think the purpose of the doccie was to lead the narrative on behalf of the current court case.

“It brings everyone involved, they all get profiled. The five people in the dock, the five people in the house. It lays out everybody.

“So you walk away knowing who the role players are more than before. Before it was Longwe [Thwala] and Kelly. Now you've got more role players, and people say Kelly's mom was there [in the house] and hasn't spoken yet.

“All those perspectives are drawn in for people to make up their mind and piece it all together before you even step into the courtroom.

“I really think as the trial continues and concludes, the material they have gathered is enough even for another eight episodes of that documentary.”

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