Further revelations by the lead investigator in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, have revealed that singer Kelly Khumalo hated the Orlando Pirates soccer player and wanted to get rid of him as far back as 2013.
Reading out a statement in the trial-within-a-trial in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, yesterday Brigadier Bongani Gininda, said the first accused, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, had through a formal confession made to an independent officer on May 30, 2020, implicated Khumalo as the person who gave them the instruction to kill Meyiwa.
This, as he explained how Sibiya was linked to the 2014 murder of Meyiwa, through witness statements. These came after Sibiya boasted to individuals he was closely associated with in his KZN homelands, including the involvement of the four other men in the dock alongside him.
Khumalo was further implicated as the person who gave the order to kill Meyiwa by the second accused, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, through various statements he made shortly after his arrest due to possession of unlicensed ammunition.
Ntanzi was also confirmed to match the description of the tall and slender man said to have been seen by witnesses running from the Vosloorus home of Khumalo while wearing a hoodie.
Although Ntanzi told police he was at work on the night in question, further investigations revealed that he had been absent from work, starting from October 25 to November 3, 2014.
According to the statement, the third accused, Mthobisi Mncube -- who was serving a 35-year sentence for a murder he committed in 2015 -- was linked to the 2014 Meyiwa murder after ballistic tests revealed that the firearm used in the murder 2015, for which he was jailed, was the same firearm used in Meyiwa’s killing.
Gininda further said that upon Mncube’s arrest for the 2015 murder, a cellphone was seized. Downloads and photos from this phone showed him wearing the clothes identified by witnesses as the same as that the accused was wearing while carrying the revolver and entering the house demanding “cellphones and money” from the occupants of the house.
Selfies taken by him on October 26, showed he matched the suspect with the firearm who also had dreadlocks, big eyes and gold teeth.
Mthokoziseni Maphisa was linked through confessions he had made to a close friend -- with the police believing his role was to guard with a small firearm any unexpected people who could come to the Vosloorus home of Khumalo during the incident.
Sifisokuhle Nkani Ntuli, was roped into the murder as he was believed to have been the drive of the getaway car, which was a silver VW polo.
The most startling revelation, however, came as the officer read that Khumalo had been in contact with Mncube and Ntuli as determined by a cellphone analyst through some of the numbers she had not disclosed to the police.
The songstress was said to have at least four cellphone numbers registered under her name.
In addition to that, the cellphone analyst was said to have found photographs in the cellphone memory of a see-through bag containing money -- the same noteswhich were found in the possession of Mncube.
The kicker, however, were the communication records between Khumalo and her sister, Zandi Khumalo, wherein police said she mentioned wanting to get rid of Meyiwa as far back as 2013.
“It is abundantly clear that she hated him (Meyiwa) and wanted to get rid of him. She further states that she regrets not getting rid of him before.
“Taking that into account, inferences can be drawn that she meant killing him. Furthermore, after the incident she called a number of people but no calls were made to emergency services.”
In putting the final nail in the coffin, the officer said Khumalo, similar to the men, had visited a witchdoctor prior to and after the killing of Meyiwa.
The trial-within-a-trial continues on Thursday.
The Star