Meyiwa trial resumes with cross-examination of lead investigator

The Senzo Meyiwa murder trial resumes on Monday. Advocate Zandile Mshololo, the lawyer representing accused number 5, Fisokuhle Ntuli is expected to continue her cross-examination of lead investigator Brigadier Bongani Gininda.

This, while accused number 1, Muzi Sibiya, will now be represented by Advocate Charles Mnisi, who also represents accused number 3, Mthobisi Mncube. This follows the death of Sibiya’s lawyer, Thulani Mngomezulu.

He was the man who took over the reins to investigate the assassination of soccer star Meyiwa.

While over the past 10 years, Meyiwa’s murder was characterised by wild speculation about what happened on that fateful day, lead investigator Brigadier Bongani Gininda says there were intruders inside the house.

The stolen phone pinged on a different tower while the phones of the people who were inside the house were picked up at the hospital tower, the cell phone that was stolen at the crime scene pinged on a different cell phone tower.

Gininda testified that another factor that led him to believe that there were intruders was that the DNA of all of the people who were inside the house, was excluded from the DNA found on the hat, which investigators found at the crime scene.

Gininda also said that the witness statements, including the neighbour’s and the descriptions of the identikits, also led him to believe there were intruders.

Gininda also revealed the first breakthrough in information regarding those allegedly involved in the assassination. He told the court that the previous witness, Constable Sizwe Zungu, told them how his father, Absolum Zungu, would have the details.

And how Absolum Zungu, who deposed a statement in 2019, sourced his information about the alleged involvement of accused 1, Muzi Sibiya and accused 2, Bongani Ntanzi from Ntanzi’s own relative, Mbekiseni.

Then as investigators tried to piece together one of South Africa’s most publicised murders, cellphone downloads would be among the places they would look. One of the pictures of a plastic bag containing stacks of money, which was discovered on accused number 3, Mthobisi Mncube’s phone was also found on Longwe Twala’s phone. This is the same picture which the court previously heard was also found on the phone of Meyiwa’s then-girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo.

Just as Gininda continued on the stand, Thulani Mngomezulu, the lawyer representing accused 1, Muzi Sibiya, fell ill, prompting proceedings to be adjourned.

As proceedings had to continue in Mngomezulu’s absence, the High Court in Pretoria heard that it was accused number 2, Bongani Ntanzi’s confession that blew the lid on the other accused and changed the course of the police’s investigation.

Then Gininda dropped a bombshell – that Meyiwa’s then-girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo, was the 6th suspect in Meyiwa’s murder. This, as two confession statements by accused number 1 & 2 finger Khumalo as being the mastermind.

And while Gininda says a warrant for Khumalo’s arrest was not authorized, he believed that she should be charged, but prosecutors felt further investigations needed to be done.

With Gininda also repeatedly describing Kelly Khumalo as the trigger point, was there any proof of bank transactions between her and the accused? Just as the trial was due to break for recess, shocking news. Thulani Mngomezulu, the lawyer for accused 1, Muzi Sibiya, who was due to cross-examine after Mshololo, passed away.

A further delay in the widely publicised Senzo Meyiwa murder trial has been averted. Advocate Charles Mnisi, who has been representing accused number 3, Mthobisi Mncube, will now also take on accused 1, Muzi Sibiya, as his client.

Mnisi, who has been part of the trial since the beginning and appraised with all the evidence that has so far been led before, says they are just ironing out the finer details regarding his representation of his new client.

The trial resumes on Monday with Advocate Zandile Mshololo expected to continue her cross-examination of lead investigator Brigadier Bongani Gininda.