Johannesburg - Celebrations with whiskey over the death of Senzo Meyiwa as well as death threats were some of the startling revelations made by the latest State witness, Constable Sizwe Skhumbuzo Zungu, in the High Court in Pretoria yesterday.
Zungu told the court how he knew of the five men currently on trial for the October 2014 murder of Meyiwa from back home in Nongoma, KwaZulu-Natal, and some from a hostel in Vosloorus.
He positively placed all five suspects at the Sotho hostel in Vosloorus on the day that the Orlando Pirates goalkeeper was shot and killed at the home of his then-girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo.
Zungu told the court he had been visiting his nephew Gwabini Zungu at the hostel, along with other family members and the accused men, drinking and having fun.
He said after some time the men left, and Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi and Mthobisi Prince Mncube only returned to the hostel around 8:30 to 9:30pm, looking shocked, and they immediately rushed into the room his nephew was staying in.
He alleged he followed them to the room, where one of the men switched off the light, and when it was switched back on, he saw that Sibiya and Mncube were in possession of a .38 revolver as well as a 9mm firearm.
Zungu then told the court that Sibiya, with a bottle of whiskey in hand, informed the people in the hostel if they had heard that Meyiwa was dead.
He said: “Have you heard that Meyiwa is no more?”
Not believing his rant, he claimed he checked social media, and when he saw nothing, he simply trashed the information, only to realise the following day of the soccer player’s demise through news reports.
As more details started coming out regarding the alleged intruders who had shot Meyiwa, he said he started recalling some strange occurrences that took place at the hostel that day.
For one, he said upon their return that night, Ntanzi, who was wearing a black hoodie, came and proceeded to change into a grey hoodie and Mncube had dreadlocks tied up, just as news reports had alluded to.
With news reports coming out with more details about the alleged intruders who came into the Khumalo home, he said he ended up telling his superior about his suspicions.
During the course of 2019, he told the court that despite not being able to confirm without a shadow of a doubt that the men he was with had indeed killed Meyiwa, he started receiving death threats from the relatives of some of the men, in particular the families of Sibiya as well as Sifisokuhle Nkani Ntuli.
He recalled one incident in particular on November 18, 2019, when he went out to buy a cigarette from the local shop.
Upon exiting his home, he alleged relatives of the men were parked outside the place he was staying, but he made no reaction and simply proceeded to the shops.
Upon his return from the shops, he told the court that one of Ntuli’s relatives produced a firearm through the car window.
He told the court that it was at that point that he called one of the men and asked them to stop, as he did not know anything.
The trial continues today with the cross-examination of Zungu.
The Star