Pretoria – The trial of the five men accused of the high-profile murder of Bafana Bafana star goalkeeper is scheduled to start in the High Court in Pretoria, amid heightened speculation on the circumstances around the cold-blooded murder in October 2014.
The five men are Muzikawukhulelwa Sthemba Sibiya, 34, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, 30, Mthobisi Prince Ncube, 36, and Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa, 35, and Sifikuhle Nkani Ntuli.
All of the men are behind bars serving sentences for different crimes, while others are still awaiting trial.
In 2020, Police Minister Bheki Cele said five suspects linked to the death of Meyiwa had been arrested in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Meyiwa was shot dead at his girlfriend Kelly Khumalo’s home, almost eight years ago.
At the time, police said two suspected robbers entered the house and demanded cellphones and money.
In another development, the National Prosecuting Authority has announced that one of the suspects accused in the Meyiwa murder, Sibiya, has been sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment for attempted murder in another case.
Sibiya was sentenced by the Vosloorus Magistrate’s Court to 12 years’ direct imprisonment on Thursday, April 7, 2022 and the court also declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said: “This is after he was convicted for the attempted murder of Ntombenhle Ndaba and Mfanelo Mbatha whom he attacked in a hail of bullets, but miraculously they survived.”
“He was also accused of shooting his girlfriend in December, 2014 after she threatened to blow the whistle on him for his alleged involvement in the murder of Senzo Meyiwa, of which he had apparently confided in the girlfriend.”
The NPA welcomed the conviction and sentence.
It said it also believed that 12 years’ imprisonment fits the crime of attempted murder.
“It is significant that the convicted man is one of the accused in the case of the murder of Senzo Meyiwa, when the trial resumes within the next few days in another court on Monday, April 11,” the NPA said.
Sibiya’s sentencing was on the same day that Netflix started streaming its Senzo: Murder of a Soccer Star five-episode docu-series.
Since it aired, Senzo, Kelly (Khumalo), Chicco (Twala), Longwe (Twala) and Mandisa (Meyiwa) have been trending on Twitter.
IOL