The high profile death of Senzo Meyiwa, the late Bafana Bafana captain, has rocked the nation for 7 years now.
The country commemorated the seventh anniversary of his death recently, on October 26th. Unfortunately, this many years down the line, the murder case is yet to come to a close, and is dragging his family, friends and fans through unnecessary turmoil.
Now, new details have emerged on the case. According to Opera News, the investigating officer leading the case, Colonel Bongani Gininda, swore an affidavit that indicates that the murder was not, as earlier assumed, a foiled armed robbery.
According to the investigator, the murder was an assassination. Fisokuhle Ntuli, the hitman implicated in the murder, along with the four others he was accused with, were hired to kill the footballer.
"Investigations, which resulted in evidence under oath, indicated that the victim was assassinated as a contractual assassination or hit rather than a robbery or robbery gone bad," the affidavit reads.
It still remains unclear who hired the hitman and his crew to kill Meyiwa. The Bafana Bafana goalkeeper was killed on 26th October 2014, in the house of his then girlfriend, singer Kelly Khumalo.
The colonel continued to note that Ntuli, the main suspect, had confessed to the murder on two separate occassions in 2020, both times under the watch and guidance of his legal representatives.
"On the 19th of June 2020, this suspect confessed to a commissioned officer, and on the 24th of June 2020, he confessed to a magistrate at the Boksburg Magistrate's Court in the presence of his counsel."
One of Ntuli’s co-accused, Mthobisi Prince Mncube, was apparently implicated in the murder through eye witness testimonies that placed him at the crime scene on the day it happened. The outfits described by witnesses matched those he was wearing in pictures found on his phone from that day.
So far, none of the accused has requested bail, which according to investigating officers, is a good sign that signals their guilt. According to the police, they are confident that they have an airtight case, and that the new evidence that has come to light will enable them to finally put the case to rest.
The country has been calling for the case to be expedited for a while now. The goalkeeper’s family is experiencing a lot of heartache, considering how long the saga has been dragged out.
Kelly Khumalo, whom the player was dating at the time of his death, recently also came out to speak on the loss she experienced. In addition to losing her best friend and the father of her daughter, she was the target of so much hate from people she never imagined would turn against her.
According to the singer, her name was dragged through the mud by people who thought she had something to do with the murder, and she couldn’t believe how malicious the reports were. For sure, South Africans have never let her forget the incident, and she is constantly being asked online to say what exactly she knows about the case.
The case is yet to be closed, and for now, we await further details on the trial. We hope this new lead finally pushes the investigations forward fast, so it can all finally be finished, to allow the Meyiwa family to rest.