Senzo Meyiwa murder investigation 'disjointed and fragmented': defence lawyer

The five men accused in the murder trial of former Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa appear in the high court in Pretoria.
The five men accused in the murder trial of former Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa appear in the high court in Pretoria.
Image: ANTONIO MUCHAVE

Defence advocate Charles Mnisi on Wednesday told a police officer he believes the Senzo Meyiwa murder investigation was “disjointed and fragmented”.

“The manner in which you investigated this case was a disjointed approach, a fragmented approach, such that some of the things done you knew [about] and some you didn't know,” Mnisi said in the Pretoria high court.

Meyiwa was shot dead in Vosloorus on the evening of October 26 2014. The footballer and his girlfriend, singer Kelly Khumalo, had been spending Sunday at her mother Ntombi's home with family and friends when they were accosted by two intruders.

The case went unsolved until it was taken over by the cold case unit led by senior investigator Brig Bongani Gininda in 2018. This led to the arrest of five suspects in 2020 and their trial is now underway.

Mnisi, representing Mthobisi Mncube, questioned Sgt Batho Mogola, a member of the team that investigated Meyiwa's murder after 2018, about her role in the investigation.

He asked whether any of the investigators had interviewed the Meyiwa family.

Mogola responded that Gininda, the lead investigator, had not instructed her to interview the family or introduced her to them.

She interviewed one eyewitness after obtaining instructions from him to do so.

Mnisi asked how she conducted her investigations if she never interviewed Meyiwa's family or the eyewitnesses about what took place. Mogola said she had been briefed by Gininda and had reviewed some of the statements while doing her investigation.

On Tuesday advocate Thulani Mngomezulu, representing Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, also asked Mogola why she did not take statements from Meyiwa's family during the investigation. He said Meyiwa’s family had received reports from eyewitnesses immediately after he was shot — one of them from Kelly Khumalo to Mandisa Mkhize, Meyiwa's wife.

Mnisi said Mncube will testify in court that he had no involvement in Meyiwa's death. Mncube had no idea how Meyiwa was killed or how many individuals were involved. “He wasn't there, he has no explanation to give because he was not there.”

TimesLIVE


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