The lovers Kelly Khumalo and Senzo Meyiwa.
Singer Kelly Khumalo has been implicated by two of the Senzo Meyiwa murder accused as the one who ordered the hit on the former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper, prompting the question: is Kelly the Meyiwa murder mastermind?
The Pretoria High Court on Friday, heard the confession statements of accused one, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya and accused two, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, for the first time.
In the confessions, which were admitted into evidence this week after a marathon five month trial within a trial to determine their admissibility, the accused confessed to police that they were paid by Khumalo to take part in the murder.
The confession statements which were read in court by justice of the peace officer Lieutenant Colonel Solomon Raphadu, revealed that Ntanzi was paid a total of R45,000, including R15,000 in cash on the night Meyiwa died. He received an additional R30,000 from accused three, Mthobisi Mncube, on the following day.
The court heard that Ntanzi was unhappy about the amount he received and a meeting was called in Nongoma, to discuss his unhappiness about the amount, with Sibiya’s father.
Sibiya was paid R30,000.
Both men said they were called to the hostel in Vosloorus where they met up with other three accused and they mapped out a plan on how they are going to carry the hit.
According to Sibiya, Mncube was the one who called him and told him that there was a job to kill Meyiwa and they have charged Khumalo R100,000.
Sibiya said during the planning, Khumalo called Mncube to confirm whether they were still coming.
Kelly Khumalo’s name has been mentioned many times during the proceedings in the Meyiwa murder trial.
Meyiwa and Khumalo have a daughter, Thingo, who was conceived during their highly publicized affair.
Meyiwa was shot dead at Khumalo’s Vosloorus home on October 26, 2014, during what was initially believed to be botched robbery, but police investigators have revealed in court that they believe Meyiwa was murdered in a contract killing.
Despite being a witness to the murder, State advocate George Baloyi has told the court on more than one occasion that he would not call Kelly Khumalo to the witness stand.
Baloyi has already called other people who were in the house to testify, including Kelly's sister, Zandile Khumalo, Meyiwa’s friends Tumelo Madlala and Mthokozisi Thwala.
A source close to the investigation told IOL there was a strategy behind the musician not being in the dock with the accused.
“This was done intentionally because the plan is to arrest and charge her separately, the investigation team is aware of her involvement. She will be arrested at the end of the trial and charged for masterminding the murder.
“They know what they are doing, but they can’t reveal it yet, hence they are quiet. This is part of their strategy to make sure that everyone who was involved in the crime is apprehended and prosecuted,” said the source.
In 2022, just after the first Meyiwa murder trial started, AfriForum legal head, Advocate Gerrie Nel, who is representing the Meyiwa family, told the media that there was a mastermind who had not been arrested in relation with the Meyiwa murder.
“I am convinced that we have the correct people in court, but I would have expected more arrests. I would have expected other people to be with them because I have said it all along. I do not believe that this was a robbery that went wrong,” Nel told journalists.
“As far as I am concerned, the police have a very good idea of who the mastermind is, and I am sure that if the mastermind is not added to the indictment, there will be other indictments in the future.”
Evidence presented during the trial by Colonel Lambertus Steyn, who is an analyst at the Cold Case Unit, told the court in July that cellphone records showed Kelly Khumalo and accused five, Fisokuhle Ntuli, were in contact on October 15, 2014, at 5.33pm in a 98 second phone call.
This was at least 11 days before the Meyiwa murder was committed.
They were also in contact on Kelly Khumalo's 082 704 **** number on August 2, 2014, at 10.40pm, for 110 seconds.
Steyn told the court she had received both calls in Kimberley and rural Limpopo, cellphone records showed. Ntuli had used his 073 305 **** number to make the calls.
Steyn found eight cellphone and landline numbers linked to Kelly Khumalo and that her 082 704 **** number, which had been in contact with Ntuli, was also registered in her name on TrueCaller and on RICA.
In October 2020, on the day the five Meyiwa murder accused first appeared in court for the murder of the footballer, the National Prosecuting Authority erroneously sent an internal memo to a media group which placed Kelly Khumalo at the centre of the Meyiwa murder trial.
It was later deleted and an apology was issued, but the memo showed that lead investigator Bongani Gininda instructing other officers to outline at least 10 tasks linked with the Meyiwa murder investigation, of which two of the items on the document concern the musician.
Gininda requested statements or affidavits relating to how the police obtained confessions from two people - seemingly Sibiya and Ntanzi.
The memo also requested cell phone communication between the accused before, during and after the commission of the crime, cell tower locations and the automatic vehicle locations of a VW Polo believed to have been used as an escape car during the Meyiwa murder in Vosloorus.
According to testimonies heard in the Pretoria, the cellphone records analysis appear to have been conducted by Colonel Steyn and are before the court.
Pertaining to Khumalo, the document requests for the singer’s cell phone records and more information about a particular loan that she may have taken around the time of the murder.
The trial continues on Monday.
Have your say... Is Kelly Khumalo the Senzo Meyiwa murder mastermind?
IOL News