Johannesburg – Bafana Bafana player Senzo Meyiwa's childhood friend Mthokozisi Thwala described his brutal assault and torture at the hands of officers investigating the October 2014 murder.
Thwala told the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, earlier today that two police officers came to fetch him from Umlazi in 2019 under the pretext of having made some arrests and wanting him to be part of an identification parade in Johannesburg.
He said along the way he noticed that they had gone past Johannesburg and were actually in Pretoria.
Upon arriving at the offices, he said he was left alone in one of the offices, where two officers arrived and grabbed his phone, demanding to know who he was talking to.
“Ya, who killed Meyiwa?” Thwala said the officers asked, and upon attempting to respond, they assaulted him with open hands and boots.
Thwala told the court that the officers assaulted him, to the point where it seemed they were alleging that it was he who killed Meyiwa.
“I kept apologising, not knowing what I was apologising for. Then they said, if I don't want to talk, I will have to write down a statement.”
Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief after one of the men left the room, however, things took a turn for the worse when he returned with a backpack.
From there, Thwala alleged, the officers proceeded to assault him, hitting him on the back and the front of his body and trampling him with their boots.
The officers, who were taking turns to assault him, then took items out of the backpack, tied his hands and feet, and proceeded to tube him, closing his nose and mouth and suffocating him.
“Those police abused me very much, including Ms Buthelezi, as she was the driving force behind all of this. Abusing me for six hours, and I was urinating myself, and they knew why they put that mat underneath me.”
He added: “What hurt me the most is that the people meant to protect us are the ones who ended up abusing me.”
The 2014 murder of Meyiwa has been alleged to be a botched robbery. Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthobisi Prince Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa, and Sifisokuhle Nkani Ntuli are are on trial for the murder.
The trial continues tomorrow with Thwala's testimony.
The Star