The five suspects charged with the murder of former Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa will be back in court in April next year. This follows their appearance in the Johannesburg High sitting in Palm Ridge yesterday.
In a bizzare twist of events the soccer star's brother, Sifiso Meyiwa, said he wants to see the five suspects released as there is no suficient evidence linking them to the 26 October 2014 murder. He instead called for the police to arrest all those who were at the crime since.
Among the people who were in the house when Meyiwa was shot was his girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo; her mother, Ntombi; he sister Zandi; and Zandi’s boyfriend, Longwe Twala.
The suspects are Muzikawulahlelwa Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthobisi Prince Mncube, Mthokosizi Maphisa and SifikuhleNkani Ntuli Sifiso. The trial dates for the five accused persons were set down for 11 to 29 April and 13 May to 17 June 2022 and the matter was moved to the Northern Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
Meanwhile, AfriForum, the lobby group that seeks to get justice on behalf of the family through a private prosecution, said it was not happy with the continuous postponements of the case.
Its head of private prosecutions unit Gerrie Nel said: “The Private Prosecution Unit certainly hopes that this is the last postponement, because it has been seven years since the murder of Senzo.
“We are also disappointed that the mastermind has still not been charged. We continue to hold the view and support the position of the SAPS that there exists enough evidence to prosecute the mastermind in what we believe was a contract killing,” said Nel
“Our concerns with regard to the indictment and summary of substantial facts remain and we do not support the version that it was a robbery that went wrong.”
Nel added that it remains a risk to proceed with the prosecution of suspects in a contract killing without charging the mastermind. The reasons why the matter could not proceed this year were never shared with the public nor the family, counsel decided the date amongst themselves during a round table pretrial.
Natasha Venter, an advisor at AfriForum’s private prosecution unit, said: “Society has the right to demand competent, rational and fair action by the prosecuting authority, without any political interference.
“This is one of the reasons why AfriForum is involved in the case. We owe it to society to ensure that the NPA prosecutes without fear, favour or prejudice. Above all this, the family deserves closure,” said Venter.