Picture File: Longwe Twala, the son of 80s bubble gum musician and music producer Sello 'Chicco' Twala. Photo: Gallo Images
In yet another twist in the almost decade-long Senzo Meyiwa murder mystery, Sello “Chicco” Twala has revealed that his son Longwe will be taking the stand to testify in the high-profile trial unfolding at the North Gauteng High Court, in Pretoria.
The music mogul and businessman told 702 radio host Clement Manyathela that the State’s prosecution wants to feature his troubled son on its witness list. This after he was recently taken in for questioning by the police.
Longwe, who is known to have battled drug addiction over the years, allegedly left the rehabilitation centre where he underwent treatment on 8 March.
In a 2022 interview with Newzroom Afrika, Twala claimed that despite the fact that Longwe and singer Kelly Khumalo know who killed Senzo, they have kept mum over the years about who pulled the trigger.
“I think the people who know the truth, it’s my son, Kelly Khumalo, and the rest of the guys who were there,” he told news anchor Xoli Mngambi.
“They know who killed Senzo, my son knows, Kelly knows, everybody knows.”
Last Friday, the spotlight turned again to Kelly’s potential involvement in the case when the confession statements of two of the five murder accused – Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya and Bongani Ntanzi – were read in court.
Sibiya and Ntanzi implicated Kelly as the “mastermind” who paid the accused R100 000 for the hit on her then-boyfriend and baby daddy.
ALSO READ: Senzo Meyiwa murder trial: What are the chances of Kelly Khumalo facing arrest?
The 27-year-old Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana footballer was gunned down in an alleged botched robbery on 26 October 2014 at the home of Kelly’s mother, Ntombi, in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg.
Longwe and his then-girlfriend, R&B singer-songwriter and Kelly’s sister, Zandile “Zandie” Gumede, were watching an “English soccer game” along with Kelly, her mom and Senzo’s friends from KwaZulu-Natal, Mthokozisi Thwala and Tumelo Madlala, when the intruders allegedly entered the house.
ALSO READ: Senzo Meyiwa trial: An unsecured crime scene, Kelly’s cop uncle and MaKhumalo with ‘that hat’
Zandie, who was the first state witness to take the stand when the rebooted trial commenced on 18 July 2023, denied under cross-examination that she was fighting with Longwe on that fateful night.
This after a state witness, whose name was withheld for security reasons at the time, allegedly claimed that Kelly told him Senzo was shot while trying to stop a fight between Zandie and Longwe.
“Firstly, Longwe and I were not fighting,” Zandie told the court in response to the claim.
“We were very happy at the time and in a very good space. The fact that I invited him to my home, that means we were on good terms.
“What is being said by the witness, I know nothing about,” she said.
Longwe is no stranger to the long arm of the law, with his string of offences even including stealing a R10 chocolate bar at a petrol station in Soweto.
In 2020, a video of Twala lambasting his son at Diepkloof Police Station after he was arrested for trying to steal someone’s cellphone went viral after doing the rounds on social media.
In the video clip, the fuming veteran music producer says he wishes it was Longwe who killed Senzo so that his son could rot in jail. Take a look…
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
