The lead investigator in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial read out his affidavit in court and revealed that the soccer player was not killed during a botched robbery, but his death was a contract killing.
“Investigations which resulted with evidence under oath revealed that the victim was murdered as a contractual assassination or hit rather than a robbery gone wrong.
“Evidence under oath revealed that five suspects actively participated in the planning and execution of contractual murder of Senzo Meyiwa,” said Brigadier Bongani Gininda.
Gininda who is also the head of the SA Police Service's National Cold Case Unit, became the lead investigating officer in the case of murdered footballer Meyiwa in November 2018.
He was under cross-examination in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Monday.
He also revealed that the five murder accused were hitmen notorious for allegedly carrying out contract killings in KwaZulu-Natal taxi wars.
In that same affidavit, Gininda detailed the alleged involvement of the five accused in the murder.
It was always unclear how accused number four, Mthokoziseni Maphisa, was the connected to the crime, according to Gininda, his role was to guard outside the house while the other accused went inside.
“He was also armed with a small firearm,” he said.
The court is currently in a trial-within-a-trial to determine the admissibility of alleged confessions made by accused number one, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya and accused number two, Bongani Ntanzi.
The two men claim they were severely assaulted and forced to confess to the murder of the former Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper.
Gininda has continuously denied that the accused were assaulted, saying they confessed through their own volition.
Furthermore, he added that Ntanzi even negotiated a plea bargain with the State where he was willing to throw the other accused under the bus in exchange for a lesser sentence.
After Gininda was done with his affidavit, Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng said his affidavit was just hearsay evidence and it wasn’t admitted as part of the evidence.
Meyiwa was killed while visiting his singer girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo, at her home in Vosloorus on October 26, 2014.
In the house on that day, was Kelly and her younger sister, Zandile, their mother, Ntombi Khumalo (MaKhumalo), Longwe Twala, Meyiwa's friends, Mthokozisi Thwala and Tumelo Madlala, Kelly's then four-year-old son, Christian, and Thingo, her daughter with Meyiwa.
The trial continues on Tuesday with Gininda still under cross-examination.
IOL