As 2021 winds to a close and many Kathorus residents get ready to travel for the festive season, there is no doubt that among the topics some would discuss will be the mysterious death of former Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa.
The celebrated soccer star died under strange circumstances in what was initially described as a “botched” robbery at the home of his girlfriend, singer Kelly Khumalo, in Vosloorus on October 26, 2014.
The brief detention of a local Rastafarian, Zamokuhle Mbatha, a neighbour of the Khumalo family in Mzamo Acres, for Senzo’s murder proved to be a fluke after Mbatha was released by the police a week later and the murder charges against him withdrawn.
Since then, former Police Minister Fikile Mbalula and Police Minister Bheki Cele continually issued statements lambasting the murder, with promises that the arrest of Senzo’s killers would be just a matter of time, as they were working tirelessly to bring the perpetrators to book.
In the meantime, following numerous pleas by the family by both ministers and later side-lined and threatened with arrest for interfering in the investigation of his son’s murder, the distraught father of the slain soccer star, Sam Meyiwa, died of a broken heart.
This was after he had informed both Mbalula and Cele that he knew the identity of the person who shot his son and why.
Almost seven years later, five people alleged to be the culprits behind the killing appeared in the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court. But Senzo’s mother, Ntombifuthi Meyiwa, who with her family hailed the involvement of the civic body AfriForum, told the media the Meyiwa family has always been aware of who shot and killed their son.
She disputed claims by the police that the murder weapon had been found by police. She also questioned why all those who were present in the house on the night Senzo was killed were silent about what happened.
“What hurts us the most are the people who were present on that night keeping quiet, as they know very well who shot and killed Senzo,” she said and added that her biggest wish was to see these people questioned by the police.
“These are the people who know very well what happened to my son. We know the whole truth, even who the killer is, but we keep seeing people blatantly lying about what happened to Senzo.”
Senzo’s cousin, Siyabonga Miya, told the media last month that despite the pain suffered by the family, he believes that no matter how long it takes, one day the truth about what happened to Senzo will be revealed. Will it?
Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2022.
