Conspiracies into Senzo Meyiwa’s death may live beyond conviction

The death of SA’s former soccer captain, Senzo Meyiwa, in 2014 will always be the stuff of conspiracies, even if a conviction is secured.

Meyiwa, a much-loved icon, was fatally shot at the house of the mother of his girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo, one of the most vocally gifted singers of her generation.

Add the presence of the son of another icon, Longwe Twala, to the mix and it makes sense that on the eve of the court appearance of Meyiwa’s alleged killers, his death is being spoken about like it only happened on Monday.

ALSO READ: Kelly, other witnesses hiding things about Senzo’s murder – former investigating officer

The real reason Senzo has not been allowed to rest in peace is the toxic and incompetent combination between the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the SA Police Service (Saps).

The recently released documentary on Meyiwa’s murder, Senzo: Murder of a Soccer Star, adds a lot of fuel to the conspiracy theories but also highlights the many opportunities lost to make real headway in solving the crime in the eight years since Meyiwa’s death.

It is such a terrible indictment on the Saps that some of the first people to get to the scene were top police brass, like then head of the Hawks Shadrack Sibiya, even though he claims the case was never officially referred to his elite investigative unit.

His indecisiveness about what his role should be has contributed to stalling the case.

“When we got to the house from the hospital, the were so many people on the scene, we had to secure the scene,” he’s quoted as saying.

ALSO READ: Police know who ‘mastermind behind Meyiwa murder’ is, says Gerrie Nel

Even an armchair detective knows that if a murder scene isn’t secured the minute police arrive at the scene, valuable evidence is lost.

Has anyone at the Saps identified the first cop to arrive? Has that person been asked why they did not secured the scene?

Did they chose not to? Were they disciplined for this? Did they take photos of the scene?

Are the allegations that the scene was “sanitised” by cleaning it before police got there true?

These might seem like basic questions for top cops like Sibiya, who features prominently in the documentary, but they are questions that should bother every South African because what transpired at the murder scene of a revered icon is what routinely happens to ordinary South African families who have suffered the loss of a family member to murder.

Add to that the fact that the NPA only moved into gear when the Meyiwa family took the unprecedented move to approach minority rights activist group AfriForum for assistance.

ALSO READ: We were hoping to see the mastermind in court, says Senzo Meyiwa’s brother

The possibility of a government agency being embarrassed by a privately launched prosecution by AfriForum, as well as relentless social media pressure, seems to have driven the NPA to finally do something about resolving the Meyiwa case.

For the sake of Meyiwa’s family, especially the memory of his father, who died broken-hearted because of the lack of progress, may the court case yield something that will help them and the nation with closure.

Only an outright confession by the gunman or alleged mastermind can make the conspiracy theories stop.

There are simply too many high-profile individuals involved for the sensationalism to simply die down even if a conviction is secured in court.

The NPA and the Saps do owe South Africa a conviction, even if only to say the rule of law is not dead.