A media statement issued by the office of a senior national media liaison officer in the SAPS described the discovery of the firearm as a major breakthrough for the police in wrapping up the case.
Another startling report on a national TV channel confirmed the discovery and added the firearm, which had been found at the Cleveland Police Station, had been linked to a hitman who shot and killed a taxi operator in Alexandra a mere three months after the firearm was apparently used to kill Senzo.
According to the report, the hitman is serving a 30-year jail term at a maximum correctional facility for the murder of the Alex taxi boss. The unnamed hitman is alleged to have also confessed to the crime.
Meyiwa died in October 2015 under strange circumstances in what was initially believed to have been a house robbery gone wrong at the home of singer Kelly Khumalo. This narrative was later reinforced by claims of a known local cash-wash operator being hinted at as the possible killer.
Zamokuhle Mbatha described how detectives in a convoy of cars arrived at his backyard shack and after questioning him about the Meyiwa murder told him they were arresting him as a suspect in the murder of Meyiwa.
However, he was found innocent. Mbatha said he is suing the minister of police for what he claims was a violation of his rights and refused to elaborate further about the case.
Vosloorus SAPS media spokesperson Capt Piet Rossouw could not confirm nor deny reports of the alleged recovery of the firearm.
He did, however, say his office could not issue statements about high-profile crime cases being investigated. He referred Kathorus MAIL to the national media liaison head, Brig Vish Naidoo, who was also listed as the author of the report.
Several attempts to reach Naidoo remained unsuccessful.
A second media statement also attributed to Naidoo repeated the report about the recovered firearm even though details remained sketchy and unclear. But, this time, Naidoo denied the recovery of the Meyiwa murder weapon. Naidoo dismissed the media reports about the gun, saying: “The police do not know anything about the weapon.”
Naidoo issued another statement, telling journalists: “If there is anything on the Meyiwa matter, everyone will be informed. The national police are the only ones speaking on the matter.”
