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File Photo: Senzo Robert Meyiwa of the Orlando Pirates during the Absa Premiership match between Chippa United and Orlando Pirates at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on September 27, 2014 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. (Photo by Richard Huggard / Gallo Images)
Exactly six years after the murder of soccer star Senzo Meyiwa, the police finally announced a breakthrough.
Six years after former Orlando Pirates goalkeeper and Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa was shot and killed in Ekurhuleni, Police Minister Bheki Cele and SAPS National Commissioner Khehla Sithole announced the arrest of five men who they are believed to have been involved in the murder.
“I am pleased to announce that there has been a breakthrough in the Senzo Meyiwa murder case.
“The first five suspects were arrested between 8 and 10 this morning in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. These arrests are the result of an integrated approach to this investigation, which is working closely with the director of the public prosecutor’s office, ”Cele said at a press conference on Monday.
The state was hoping to have an airtight case against the five suspects. National Police Commissioner General Khehla Sithole said forensic evidence had linked the suspects to both the crime scene and the murder weapon.
Cele further said the arrests were the beginning of a journey towards closure for Meyiwa’s family, friends and millions of South Africans.
News 24 reported on 20 October that the weapon linked to Meyiwa’s murder had been found, and that the man who fired the shots that killed the footballer had also been identified by the police.
Meyiwa was murdered in the Vosloorus home of his girlfriend Kelly Khumalo in October 2014. Meyiwa was said to have been shot and killed when unknown thugs invaded (Khumalo’s) home with the intent to commit a robbery, and that they had escaped with cellphones.
Police said the arrests were the result of the “tireless” efforts of a four-member open cases unit. Sithole said the unit was established after a public outcry about the status of police investigations into some unsolved cases.
Reports over the weekend claimed that police are still investigating whether someone who was in the home at the time of the shooting should be charged.
Both Cele and Sithole could not rule out further arrests.
Since his death in October 2014, various theories have circulated about Meyiwa’s murder. These included Meyiwa being killed by the son of Chicco Twala’s friend and music producer, Longwe Twala, during an argument involving Kelly Khumalo’s sister, Zandi Khumalo. Khumalo was believed to have been in a romantic relationship with Twala. These rumors were constantly denied by both Twala and Khumalo.
The police came under fire after Zamokuhle Mbatha’s unjust arrest in October 2014. Earlier last year, he said he would sue the state after he was handcuffed and forced to spend two weeks behind bars in connection with Meyiwa’s murder.
On July 29, 2019, Meyiwa’s father, Sam, passed away.
He welcomed the efforts of the open cases unit to make the arrests, adding that the unit had inherited 100 cases and made 40 arrests. DM
