KATHORUS – News that a top crime detective heading the Senzo Meyiwa murder case has pulled out of the police investigating team, has been received with mixed-feelings by Kathorus residents, especially those who live in the same neighbourhood where the former national football squad captain and ex Orlando Pirates goal-keeper was shot to death inside the home of his girlfriend’s mothers’ house in October 2014.
Capt. Joyce Buthelezi is reported to have withdrawn as the head investigator in the case after she clashed with her superiors who rejected certain aspects she wanted to implement in her investigations. This is alleged to have occurred a fortnight ago during a high-profile crime meeting at the police headquarters in Pretoria.
The highly decorated Buthelezi is believed to have suggested to her seniors that she wanted Kelly Khumalo and all the other people present in the house on the day of the shooting arrested and formally charged with perjury and defeating the ends of justice.
People approached by MAIL for comment about Buthelezi’s decision to withdraw from the long-drawn out Meyiwa murder probe, said they supported Buthelezi’s suggestion as it would have brought a speedy resolve to the case (see main story on page 4).
Among the people Buthelezi wanted to charge are the dead soccer star’s lover Kelly Khumalo, her sister Zandi, as well as all the male companions who were present in the Khumalo household in Mzamo Acres, in Vosloorus on the night of October 26, 2014.
“Kakes” Mahlangu (48) of Moleleki Section in Katlehong, admitted that the Meyiwa murder case was as confusing as it is frustrating not only for football fans and Meyiwa’s family, but, as Mahlangu puts it, “for those of us who have always looked up to the police in the country to solve the crime situation and to forge society into law-abiding citizens”.
“Police management should have allowed Buthelezi to proceed with her plans to arrest everyone who was there that night. They were all there and there’s no way they can say they did not see who pulled the trigger of the gun that ended Meyiwa’s life,” explained Mahlangu, who said Buthelezi’s withdrawal from the case could prolong the investigations even further.
Tim “Scara” Mabunda (52), a former Vosloorus amateur footballer in his youth and a staunch Orlando Pirates supporter, said he is not happy with the treatment metered to Buthelezi by her superiors in Pretoria “The police seniors should have allowed her to arrest everyone who was there. How can they all turn around and give investigators the run-around? Someone knows something and they’ve all decided to coil-up and cover-up. They should all be in jail,” said an angry Mabunda.
Pinky Moreledi (38) from the adjacent affluent Spruitview neighbourhood, told the MAIL that she thinks Buthelezi’s superiors were correct in refusing her permission to arrest what she described as innocent people who were present that day. “I find it unacceptable that she wanted to arrest Kelly Khumalo, her sister Zandi, together with all the men that were present that day. How does their presence at the scene make them guilty of murder?”
An aspiring and budding IT technician and part-time electronics student at a private Johannesburg college, Mzolisi Nhlapo (28) of Mayberry Park in Alberton, who is also an ardent Orlando Pirates supporter, says he stands firmly behind Buthelezi’s suggestion to have all the people who were with Meyiwa on the night he was killed, arrested.
“Technically, although none of them, in my view, can be held liable for the murder of Meyiwa, especially with the almost hard-to-believe robbery angle which in my mind somehow temporarily absolves anyone among them who may have been responsible for pulling the trigger, a little time spent in jail could definitely have loosened a few tongues and helped solve Meyiwa’s murder once and for all,” Nhlapo explained.
While the police seem to be battling to find solutions to bring closure to the Meyiwa murder mystery, members of the public are finding it hard to believe that almost a year later, investigators have still not apprehended the murderer.
