A group of friends and family of murdered former Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria yesterday, chanting “Voetsek Khumalo” with #nojustice #novotes and #justice for Senzo placards in their search for justice.
Meyiwa’s brother, Sifiso, was emotional when he spoke about what happened that fateful night.
Family insists wrong suspects are on trial
“Our family, we believe in God, and we have hope that we are going to find justice,” he said, adding that the right people were not being charged.
“Those people in court are not the right suspects. I am saying this because on the same night my brother died, Tumelo Madlala [a friend of Senzo who was in the house during the shooting] called the family and said he was shot by mistake.
“Where is the mistake now? That is the main reason we know what happened.”
Meyiwa said he was told his brother was not shot by criminals.
“If the truth were revealed, I was going to cause a lot of problems. The real thing that happened was my brother was shot by mistake while he was trying to separate Zandile Khumalo [the sister of Senzo’s then girlfriend Kelly Khumalo] and her boyfriend, because they were fighting.”
Second docket remains under scrutiny
Meyiwa said the second docket had the “right suspects”.
The contentious second docket was opened in January 2019, five years after the murder in 2014, by two police officers when there was an impasse in the investigation.
It implicates Kelly Khumalo and those who were present at the crime scene, but according to the director of public prosecutions in Pretoria, a final decision regarding the docket will only be made once the trial is concluded.
University of Limpopo criminology and criminal justice head of department Witness Maluleke said the signs of arresting and prosecuting the wrong suspects linked to this case were clear.
“Meyiwa’s family has suffered multiple betrayals and never-ending wounds for more than a decade. Expecting justice to be served remains a hopeless hope for them.
“The family experienced enough, and their pain cannot be justified. This cold case is an example of power dynamics,” Maluleke said.
‘Destabilised and understaffed justice system’
Criminal law expert Cornelia van Graan said this is one of those heartbreaking stories where the suspects were in the court, but the system keeps failing the victim.
“In South Africa, we have a serious problem with a defunded, destabilised and understaffed justice system. It is the victims like Meyiwa who pay the price. He leads the charge for so many other victims whose cases remain unresolved and unseen.”
National Assembly chair of the portfolio committee on police Ian Cameron said he understood the frustration of the family.
“We need to let the law take its course and the trial needs to be completed.”
