By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Brigadier Bongani Gininda, the lead investigator and the state’s final witness in the Senzo Meyiwa trial, returned to the stand in the Pretoria high court where he analysed the two confessions and pointed out elements that corroborated the events when the football star was killed.
In a trial within a trial earlier this year, judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng ruled that Muziwakhulelwa Sibiya and Bongani Ntanzi had confessed freely and voluntarily, and had not been coerced as they had claimed. Details about the confessions were first revealed in court in January when Gininda read out his affidavit.
Gininda said both men had implicated Meyiwa’s girlfriend, singer Kelly Khima, as the person who had orchestrated the hit on Meyiwa.
During proceedings, Gininda, who was assigned to the case in 2018, continued to share the details of how the police made a breakthrough in the investigation into Meyiwa’s murder.
He had testified on Thursday that the breakthrough occurred when Constable Sizwe Skhumbuzo Zungu’s father provided a statement in November 2019, implicating two suspects.
Those suspects were later identified as Sibiya and Ntanzi.
Zungu’s father had witnessed a conversation between the two men regarding the murder.
Gininda informed the court that Sibiya, who was arrested in May 2020, confessed to being involved in the murder, but claimed he was not the shooter.
Instead, Sibiya implicated Makho Buthelezi, who was killed in 2019, and Makhimba Qiniselani Buthelezi as the two intruders who entered the Khumalo home, according to his confession statement.
“We did not know those names so they could have not come up from anywhere except from him,” Gininda said.
The investigator stated that the police pursued Sibiya’s claims and discovered that the Buthelezi brothers were incarcerated from 2013 to 2016.
This information was corroborated by Makhimba, who was held at Qalakabusha Prison in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).
“We managed to get to him and a statement from him was obtained… as one was trying to corroborate this confession,” he said.
Makhimba was sentenced to life imprisonment for two taxi-related murders in 2022.
Gininda also testified that Sibiya’s confession statement described one of the intruders as having dreadlocks.
This individual, identified as Mthobisi Mncube, was allegedly armed and killed Meyiwa during a struggle.
Mncube’s legal representative, advocate Charles Mnisi, previously admitted his client indeed had dreadlocks at some point.
“He gives a description that, in our view, based on investigations is accused three, but just changes the name to try and mislead us because the facts that he referred to are aligned to this matter.”
This is in line with what the witnesses inside the house are saying, that the perpetrators demanded cellphones and money.
“Furthermore, in his confession, he mentions a white [VW] Polo that he says was used. The evidence that we have is that it was a [grey] Polo, so he was closely describing the right car,” the investigator explained.
Gininda added that the police were able to link the vehicle to Fisokuhle Ntuli by auditing his ID number, which allowed them to identify cars associated with him.
“That was the vehicle that was used during the commission of the offence and it was driven by accused five.”
Five people were arrested in 2020 and are facing charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder, attempted murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, and unlawful possession of ammunition.
The accused — Mncube, Mthokoziseni Ziphozonke Maphisa, Ntuli, Sibiya, and Ntanzi — have entered not guilty pleas.