A close friend of slain Bafana Bafana captain and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper, Senzo Meyiwa, was on the witness stand this week and told the court about the events which unfolded when his friend was gunned down by alleged intruders.
Mthokozisi Thwala started giving his evidence in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday. He sat through a gruelling cross-examination until Friday.
– Uncomfortable with going with Senzo to his girlfriend’s house
On the day Meyiwa was murdered, Thwala testified that he was uncomfortable going with his friend to his singer girlfriend Kelly Khumalo’s home in Vosloorus.
He explained that he was also friends with Meyiwa’s wife, Mandisa Mkhize.
“I was also Mandisa’s friend, so it didn’t feel right for me to go to Senzo’s girlfriend’s place whereas I know his wife,” he told the court.
Thwala explained that even though he was reluctant, he ended up going to the Khumalo homestead after Meyiwa convinced him that this was a chance for him to meet his newborn daughter, a child he had with Kelly.
– I didn’t see who shot Senzo
According to Thwala, a scuffle ensued when two alleged intruders entered the house demanding money and cellphones.
Meyiwa struggled with the gunman while other people in the house hit the second intruder who was holding a knife, with crutches.
During the commotion, a gunshot went off and he fled the scene.
He said the second intruder chased him, but he managed to get away and ran to the neighbour’s house and told them they were being robbed.
After the intruders had left, he went back to the Khumalo homestead and he found Meyiwa lying on the floor bleeding from his chest.
– Meyiwa was alive when we were rushing to the hospital
He said they rushed Meyiwa to Botshelong Hospital using his BMW X6 which was driven by his girlfriend, Kelly.
“On our way to Botshelong, he was gasping as if he wanted to say something. As we were about to reach Botshelong, I held his hand just to check if he would respond. He squeezed my hand back, and I knew he was still alive,’’ Thwala said at the time.
Thwala said when they arrived in hospital, he remained in the car with his wounded friend.
“I squeezed his hand just to check whether he will squeeze me back, but unfortunately he didn’t hold me back, it was like he was already dead or was about to die.”
– I was severely assaulted by police
Thwala said two officers came to fetch him from uMlazi in Durban in 2019 under the pretext of having made some arrests and wanting him to be part of an identification parade in Joburg.
He said along the way he noticed that they had gone past Joburg and were actually in Pretoria.
Thwala told the court that the officers assaulted him, to the point where it seemed they were alleging it was he who had killed Meyiwa.
“Those police abused me very much so, including Ms Buthelezi, as she was the driving force behind all of this. Abusing me for six hours, and I was urinating (on) myself, and they knew why they put that mat underneath me.”
– I reported the assault to Ipid, but nothing has been done
After the alleged assault, he filed a complaint against Colonel Joyce Buthelezi and Warrant Officer Meshack Makhubo.
He said the independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) only came to him once and he had never heard from them again.
“Ipid officers came once at my workplace to take statements. They were also shocked when I was telling them what had happened. They said they would investigate the matter. But up until now, nothing has happened. It clearly shows that police are the law unto themselves,” he said.
After realising that there was no movement in the case, Thwala said his lawyer tried to follow up on the matter and he was told the case had been given to another investigating officer.
Meyiwa was gunned down at the Vosloorus home of his girlfriend Kelly in a suspected robbery, on October 26, 2014.
The people who were in the house on the day Meyiwa was murdered, were Kelly Khumalo and her younger sister, Zandile, their mother Ntombi Khumalo (MaKhumalo), Longwe Twala, Meyiwa’s friends, Mthokozisi Thwala and Tumelo Madlala, Kelly’s then four-year-old son, Christian, and Thingo, her three-month-old daughter with Meyiwa.
Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthobisi Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Sifisokuhle Ntuli are on trial for the murder.
The trial will continue on Monday with a new witness.
IOL