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Senzo Meyiwa murder trial: What are the chances of Kelly Khumalo facing arrest?
Singer Kelly Khumalo has resurfaced in the the murder trial of her former boyfriend and soccer star Senzo Meyiwa.
Award-winning singer Kelly Khumalo has once again been implicated in the murder of Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana footballer Senzo Meyiwa. Photos: Instagram @kellykhumalosa and Twitter @4eversiya
The latest court proceedings in the high-profile murder trial of Senzo Meyiwa drew renewed attention to singer Kelly Khumalo’s alleged involvement in the case with a legal expert weighing in on the possibility of the award-winning singer having her day in court.
On Friday, 15 March, Kelly was trending for all the wrong reasons as the written confession statements by two of the five men accused of Meyiwa‘s murder – Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya and Bongani Ntanzi – were heard in the North Gauteng High Court, in Pretoria.
More evidence pointing to Kelly Khumalo surfaces in court
The statements heralded the next chapter in the Meyiwa murder mystery which has gripped Mzansi for almost a decade.
In his confession, Sibiya claimed the five accused were paid R100 000 to carry out the alleged hit on the 27-year-old Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana goalkeeper and captain.
He implicated Kelly as the “mastermind” who ordered the hit on her then-boyfriend and baby daddy.
The court also heard that she allegedly contacted Sibiya just hours before Meyiwa was gunned down on 26 October 2014 at the home of Kelly’s mother, Ntombi, in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg.
Confession about Kelly backed up by another accused
Sibiya’s confession has been backed up by that of Ntanzi:
“I was briefed that the person who was going to be eliminated was Senzo Meyiwa, and the matter was initiated by Kelly Khumalo, who was going to make payment for the whole job,” the statement reads.
Why was there a trial-within-trial?
The latest potentially damning evidence against Kelly follows Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng’s recent ruling which deems the confession statements were given “freely and voluntarily”.
However, the accused individuals previously claimed in court that they were coerced and subjected to violence to make the confessions. This led to a lengthy trial-within-a-trial lasting five months to determine the admissibility of the confessions.
Previous bombshell testimony
In August 2023, Kelly’s cellphone records took centre stage when the court heard that she received two calls several days before Meyiwa’s murder from one of the accused – convicted KwaZulu-Natal hitman Fisokuhle Nkani Ntuli, who has earned himself the nickname of “John Wick”.
Data analyst Colonel Lambertus Steyn, however, was forced to admit – after the fiery cross-examination of her defence lawyer advocate Zandile Mshololo – that the evidence claiming the numbers were interchangeably used by Ntuli on 2 August and 15 October 2014, were not verified by Rica.
Steyn also testified that while performing cellphone download tracking of the activity on Kelly’s phone, he found evidence that a ‘device boot-up’ occurred on 27 October 2014 at about 1:30am, mere hours after Meyiwa’s death.
According to the data analysis expert, this indicated that some or all of the phone’s memory was wiped.
ALSO READ: Senzo Meyiwa trial twist: Kelly Khumalo ‘received two calls’ from murder accused
Could Kelly be arrested and charged?
Legal expert Ulrich Roux told eNCA that Kelly could be subject to arrest if additional evidence surfaces and is officially documented.
Netizens weigh in
The latest confessions have been met by mixed reactions on social media though. Take a look:
@ke Rakgadi: “Kelly isn’t my favorite person on this earth but here she is being thrown under the bus… I don’t believe these confessions.”
@Kabelo Amon: “State needs to prove beyond reasonable doubt that those confessions are valid and anyway, Kelly won’t just get arrested because of being linked because of a confession.”
@Khelelo Rob Machethe: “Our law enforcement is seriously not functional. There has always been a link.”
@Mokoni: “What did Kelly stand to gain?”
@Ntobe_wezimbali: “Baloyi’s strategy is taking long for her to get arrested. She should be joining them there in the bench. But let’s wait I believe Baloyi will give us victory.”
@Sandiso__N: “This thing really doesn’t add up, how can a mother of two-month child at that time buy hitmen to kill the father of her child! I strongly believe they’re using her to hide really people behind this but something doesn’t really add up here.”
ALSO READ: Senzo Meyiwa trial: An unsecured crime scene, Kelly’s cop uncle and MaKhumalo with ‘that hat’
Why does Kelly not take the witness stand?
Amid intense scrutiny by the public about Kelly’s potential involvement, calls have also been mounting since the reboot of the trial on 17 July 2023 for the singer to take the witness stand as she was one of the people present when Meyiwa was shot.
On 24 July, State prosecutor, advocate George Baloyi, told Judge Mokgoatlheng that the singer did not feature on their witness list.
‘Truth is still putting on its shoes and tying its laces…’
Amid the latest court drama, R&B singer-songwriter Zandile “Zandie” Gumede, headed to social media to encourage her sister Kelly to prove her innocence.
She shared a photo of the two sisters posing with their mother on Instagram with the caption:
“Bo Mashobane sekuseduze phambili, God is at work. Isilungu sithi [lies] will travel halfway across the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes and tying its lace.”
Zandie and her then-boyfriend, Longwe Twala, and Senzo’s friends from KwaZulu-Natal, Mthokozisi Thwala and Tumelo Madlala, were all present watching an “English soccer game” when the intruders allegedly entered the house.
The trial continues.
NOW READ: Payment dispute arose after suspects ‘killed’ Senzo Meyiwa on Kelly Khumalo’s order, court hears
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