MEYIWA RECAP | Crucial questions that have been answered so far

As the Senzo Meyiwa trial commenced on Wednesday, the lead investigator in the case has revealed in his affidavit that all five men accused of his fatal shooting actively participated in the planning and execution of the contractual murder.

Brigadier Bongani Gininda said investigations revealed that Meyiwa was murdered as a contractual assassination or hit rather than a robbery gone wrong in October 2014. 

Meyiwa was with his girlfriend Kelly Khumalo at her mother Ntombi’s home in Vosloorus. 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 who were visiting from KwaZulu-Natal. The occupants of the house told police that two robbers entered, demanding cash and cellphones, before Meyiwa was shot in a scuffle with one of the intruders.

Further, Gininda said evidence indicates that the planning of the offence and the gathering after the incident took place at a Vosloorus hostel.

Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya‚ Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi‚ Mthobisi Prince Ncube‚ Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa and Fisokuhle Nkani Ntuli have pleaded not guilty to murdering Meyiwa.

BACKTRACK

When the five were arrested and appeared at the Boksburg magistrate’s court in 2020, they refused to stand in the accused dock, telling the court they did not know why they were being charged with the goalkeeper’s murder. 

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The trial got under way, bringing in testimony from police officers who attended the scene, as well as some eyewitnesses to the shooting. 

That round of proceedings, however, caused confusion, raised questions and left most crucial questions unanswered. 

The trial was restarted after the first judge, Tshifhiwa Maumela, fell ill. Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng took over, leading to a restart of the trial, where some crucial headway has been made. 

MEYIWA’S FINAL MOMENTS

According to pathologist Dr Johannes Steenkamp, Meyiwa had a typical Sunday meal of meat, vegetables and rice before he was shot in the chest at close range and rapidly succumbed to the fast-bleeding wound. He couldn’t have survived more than seconds or minutes.

Meyiwa was standing upright in the kitchen behind a half-closed door with his back to the door but not in contact with it.

The bullet perforated his body and hit the door behind him.

Top ballistics expert Lt-Col Chris Mangena said the shooter was probably in front of him and the firearm in contact with his chest.

Mangena said the possibility of an altercation or struggle between the deceased and the shooter could not be ruled out.

After his examination of the crime scene and Meyiwa’s clothing and body, Mangena said he could determine at least two shots were fired.

The shot towards the door was the one that hit Meyiwa.

One shot was fired directly to the floor at an angle of about 90°, while the other shot was fired in the direction of the door at a slightly downward angle.

The shot perforated Meyiwa’s sternum on the right at the level of rib three, and he bled out.

According to Mangena, the bullet damage on the door had characteristics of an unstable bullet and the instability could have been as a result of an intermediate target between the firearm — being the deceased.

When Steenkamp conducted an autopsy on Meyiwa’s body at Germiston mortuary on October 28 2014, two days after the Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana goalkeeper died, he was clad in a white bloodstained shirt, a white vest and blue tracksuit.

During his examination, Steenkamp said Meyiwa’s right chest cavity contained 1,700ml of free and clotted blood. This was internal blood loss from the heart as well as the lungs in that area, flowing to the chest cavity, resulting in the left lung collapsing.

The cause of death was consistent with a bullet wound of the chest involving the heart and the lung.

EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS

According eyewitnesses, two intruders came into the house as Kelly was standing and telling a joke.

Zandi’s account is that three gunshots went off in the Vosloorus house.

At about 7.30pm to 8pm, from where she was sitting, she saw the kitchen door opening. When she peeked through she saw two men in the passage.

The first intruder, who was “short with dreadlocks”, was the first to come in and the second “tall intruder” stood in the middle of the passage.

Zandile said the dreadlocked intruder was of medium height. His dreadlocks were up to his neck, and he had a hat, big eyes that were protruding and had a facial contour, as if his cheekbones were visible. He also had shiny skin.

The second tall intruder was slim, wearing a hoodie and had a beard “that goes around his mouth”.

It was established that the suspect was a sentenced prisoner, serving 35 years for a murder committed in 2015. Tests revealed that the same firearm used in the murder for which the accused was serving his sentence was used to murder Meyiwa.

—  Brigadier Bongani Gininda

According to her version, when the dreadlocked intruder pointed a gun at them and said: “Khiphani imali nama phone (take out money and phones).” Longwe stood up and pushed the intruder dashing out of the house. A scuffle ensued between the suspects and people in the house.

She heard a gunshot going off and something hitting the floor. A spark went off, and it hit her on her right foot.

While squatting in the bathroom, Zandi heard the second and third shots from the kitchen, however, the third shot sounded different.

While peeking, she could see Meyiwa crouched with his arms wrapped around his stomach, walking towards the sitting area.

He bundled himself in between the TV stand and one of the couches and Kelly, her mother and the dreadlocked intruder followed behind him.

She identified Ntanzi as the tall intruder.

Madlala said Meyiwa had Ntanzi pinned to a wall before the shot was fired.

However, Zandi and Mthokozisi’s testimony was that Meyiwa was tussling with the dreadlocked intruder, who had a gun.

Mthokozisi said he did not see who fired the shot and maintained he heard two gunshots.

Madlala corroborated this and told the court that the gun he saw being wielded by the dreadlocked man who was first to enter had a “wheel”.

He was also not sure how many shots went off.

A neighbour of the Khumalo’s, Nthabiseng Mokete partially corroborated the evidence of Zandi that there were three gunshots.

She described seeing three people run up the street, past a vehicle she and another occupant had been sitting in. Giving a description, she said one had dreadlocks and the other a hoodie.

However, she said she did not see the people coming out of the home.

Another neighbour, Khaya Ngcatshe said he saw someone with a white shirt whose back was facing the window at the Khumalo house when he heard noises.

MURDER WEAPON

Almost three months after the murder of Meyiwa, the murder weapon was found in Mncube’s possession in 2015.

TimesLIVE Premium had, in November 2020, reported that through ballistics, police discovered the pistol (recovered from Mncube) was also used to kill Alexandra taxi boss Reggie Mohlala in January 2015.

In court, Mangena confirmed that the gun was the same gun that killed Meyiwa.

It was found when Mncube was arrested in February 2015 in his rented room in Malvern, Johannesburg, by police investigating a taxi-related shooting. 

Mangena was able to determine that it was the murder weapon after examining the projectile found on the kitchen counter at the crime scene and test bullets fired from the gun found in Mncube’s possession.

The gun was traced to a Fidelity security guard from Centurion, and the court heard that it was stolen from an officer during a cash-in-transit heist at a shopping centre in May 2013 in Rabie Ridge, Johannesburg.

Further, it was revealed that the same gun almost got destroyed in 2017 at the Cleveland storage facility.

Fortunately, the process was delayed by paperwork processes and logistics. 

ACCUSED LINK?

A witness statement revealed links and details possibly confirming that the five accused are responsible for the soccer star's murder.

Constable Sizwe Skhumbuzo Zungu, under police guard, gave crucial evidence about what happened that night that might have been the key to unravelling the murder case that took police years to crack.

Zungu placed all five men at a Vosloorus hostel before and after the murder — confirming that they knew each other.

Zungu had spent the day with the men at a get-together at the hostel and identified some of them in pictures downloaded from Mncube’s phone pointing out that they were taken on the day of the murder.

He testified that later that day, between 8.30pm and 9.30pm, Sibiya, Ntanzi and Mncube came in, following one another at the hostel and Mncube and Sibiya had firearms.

According to Zungu, Sibiya was carrying a 38 revolver, while Mncube was carrying a 9mm pistol.

He also testified that he noticed Ntanzi outside, who had been wearing a black hoodie and had now changed into a grey hoodie.

Further, he revealed that Sibiya announced Meyiwa’s death at a get-together at the hostel that same night before word got out.

Meyiwa's death was then celebrated with a bottle of whisky.

Zungu said he only realised years later that the men were the ones who murdered the footballer.

He has also told the court that he was threatened by the family of Sibiya and Ntuli.

According to a Sunday Times report, Sibiya was first arrested on two attempted murder charges in March 2019 and skipped bail before he was rearrested in Thembisa. Information from Sibiya then led to Ntanzi, a former miner in Rustenburg. Ntanzi and Sibiya implicated the others.

A cellphone expert revealed important aspects that finally shed some light and direction on the state’s case.

Col Lambertus Steyn told the court that cellphone data collected after Meyiwa’s death uncovered that Kelly had been in contact with one of the accused, Ntuli, on at least two occasions before Meyiwa’s death — the last being just days before his murder.

Steyn analysed cellphone data of all the people who were present in the Vosloorus home where Meyiwa was gunned down — except one of Kelly's phones which reportedly was stolen by the intruders who had barged into the house. Meyiwa’s phone records were also not part of the bundle.

He said the phones of the accused could also not be analysed because of the three-year time lapse since the incident. 

Further, during cellphone download tracking the activity on Kelly Khumalo’s phone he found a “device boot-up” of the device had occurred on October 27 2014, a day after Meyiwa was murdered.

The device boot-up was at about at about 1.31am, several hours after the murder.

Meyiwa’s phone signal was picked up by a tower at the hospital, this is despite the eyewitnesses stating that his phone was left in the house.

Steyn also found that a sim swap was done on Meyiwa’s phone number just hours after his death. 

Further, it was revealed that no-one called the police or emergency services.

His probe revealed that there were cellphone links between the accused, meaning it was highly probable that they knew each other.

Photos downloaded from Ncube’s phone unmasked the dreadlocks he had about the time Meyiwa was murdered.

State prosecutor George Baloyi told the court that Sibiya had made a confession and pointed out the crime scene, while Ntanzi had made two confession statements.

A sangoma, Robert Zwane, backtracked after saying he recognised one of the accused, whom he referred to as “Sibiya” at a police station.

He said the man consulted with him for luck and later a cleansing ceremony.

On Monday, as the trial within a trial resumed in the Pretoria high court, Gininda revealed the alleged role of each of the accused in the execution of the crime.

According to his affidavit, Sibiya boasted to individuals closely associated with him in KZN about his involvement, together with his co-accused, in killing Meyiwa. 

“A dispute ensued between the individuals and the closely associated individuals disclosed to the police the admissions these accused made to them,” Gininda said.

Gininda said Sibiya was first linked to the offence through witness statements made under oath. 

He was further linked with circumstantial evidence where he disclosed and remarked at a family gathering he attended in Vosloorus about the killing of Senzo even before the death was reported in the media.

“He is further linked through a formal confession he made on May 30 2020. The suspect pointed out the sequence collection before the incident, pointing out the guarding of the outside the house during the assassination and the dropping of the accused at the cellphone tower,” he said.

Ntanzi was also linked to the offence through certified sworn statements he made to the witnesses and an identikit compiled through description by witnesses.

Gininda said he was identified as the person with a hoodie who initially stood outside the house before the incident and ran away after the incident. 

“The suspect was traced through information received and was confronted with the evidence available against him. He was, among others, confronted about the clothes he was alleged to have worn and compiled identikit. During questioning the suspect and the subsequent search, ammunition was found for which no licence was produced, the suspect was arrested for this offence hereafter the suspect expressed his eagerness to confess to his involvement in this matter,” Gininda said.

Gininda alleges that Ntanzi confessed to a commission officer in June 2020 and later made another confession in the presence of his attorney to a magistrate in Boksburg on June 24 2020. 

He said through the confession, it appears that Ntanzi is the suspect who was described as the tall slender-built suspect who entered the Vosloorus home.

The affidavit has fingered Mncube as the gunman linked through statements and co-accused confessions.

“Further evidence under oath was obtained. It was established that the suspect was a sentenced prisoner, serving 35 years for a murder committed in 2015. Tests revealed that the same firearm used in the murder for which the accused was serving his sentence was used to murder Meyiwa. Upon the accused’s arrest for the 2015 murder, a cellphone was seized and the cellphone downloads were done. The photos found on his cellphone shows him wearing the same clothing that witnesses identified on the same day of the incident as the accused carrying the revolver,” said Gininda.

Gininda said photos of Mncube matched the description of the suspect who had a firearm, dreadlocks, big eyes and gold teeth.

“This is the suspect that went into the house and made a demand for cellphones and money,” said Gininda.

He said the murder weapon was also pictured on his phone.

Maphisa allegedly confessed to a private person about his involvement in the murder.

According to Gininda, this came after he asked the person for information on why Ntanzi was arrested.

Gininda said investigations revealed that Maphisa’s role was to guard anyone who might come in from outside the house that night. 

“He was also armed with a small firearm,” he said.

Ntuli has been allegedly linked to the silver-grey polo, which was allegedly used as a getaway car.

Further, evidence also allegedly reveals that he drove the car with the suspects to the same scene and back to the hostel. 

“His role was to remain and guard the getaway car during the offence,” Gininda said. 

Gininda said the men are known to be hitmen.

Further in his affidavit, Gininda said the investigation revealed that the cellphone that was robbed was picked up through cellphone towers until the signal covering the area of the Vosloorus hostel was lost. The cellphone was never recovered to date or switched on again.

DNA collected from a bucket hat found at the scene did not match any of the five men accused, nor was their DNA found at the crime scene from the samples collected.

An HR manager where Ntanzi worked said Ntanzi had worked for two hours the day before the murder.

He did not report for duty on the day of the murder as he was off and had taken unpaid leave from the day after the murder, citing personal problems. He returned to work on the night of November 2 that year.