Police have linked four men accused of killing Senzo Meyiwa to his girlfriend and singer Kelly Khumalo.
Two of the hitmen were connected to Khumalo via sworn confession statements they allegedly made to police while the other two were linked via cellphone evidence.
Brig Bongani Gininda, the lead investigator in the Meyiwa murder case, revealed this in the Pretoria high court yesterday.
This is the first-time police have directly placed before court evidence implicating Khumalo in the murder case.
Gininda told the court yesterday that accused number one Muzi Sibiya and alleged accomplice – accused number two – Bongani Ntanzi had previously implicated Khumalo as the person who ordered the hit on her boyfriend in 2014.
Reading his affidavit in court, Gininda said Sibiya was first linked to the murder through witness statements under oath and circumstantial evidence boasted to individuals closely associated with him in KZN as to his involvement in the murder with other accused.
When a dispute broke out the individuals told the police his admissions.
He was further linked through his formal confession to the commissioned independent officer on May 30 2020.
According to Gininda, in the alleged confession, he implicates Khumalo as the person who gave them the instruction to kill Meyiwa.
Sibiya further pointed out the crime scene and how the incident unfolded.
In the alleged confession, Sibiya stated that he was not the shooter though he was able to accurately indicate that Meyiwa was shot in the chest.
Ntanzi, who was identified as the second intruder with a hoodie, also allegedly implicated Kelly in the murder.
Gininda further told the court that police could also link Khumalo with accused number 3 – the alleged shooter of Meyiwa – Mthobisi Mncube and accused number 5, Fisokuhle Ntuli through cellphone evidence.
He said Kelly failed to disclose four cellphone numbers to the police and the numbers were discovered by cellphone analysts during investigations.
Investigations revealed that she was linked to the actual perpetrators of the murder through cellphone linkages, connecting her to Mncube and Ntuli.
“It was further discovered that through cellphone analysts her [Khumalo’s] cellphone memory album has the same photo of a see-through bag containing cash notes and in the exact position or location of that of Mncube’s,” Gininda said.
“There is no reasonable explanation as to why Kelly [Khumalo] will be in contact telephonically with a hitman or killers of her boyfriend and share the same picture of a bag full of money.”
He said police were able to connect the numbers to Khumalo via her activities. According to the police it was through one of the numbers that the connections with at least two of the hitmen had taken place.
In July last year, police cellphone data analyst Col Lambertus Steyn told the high court that Ntuli had called Khumalo just weeks before Meyiwa was gunned down. However, Ntuli’s lawyer, Adv Zandile Mshololo, poked holes in Steyn’s evidence, asking him if he had checked with any cellphone service providers if the number Ntuli allegedly used really belonged to him. Steyn said he never did.
Gininda said police had evidence that the murder of Meyiwa was planned in Vosloorus at a hostel and following the crime cellphones of the accused were traced back to the hostel.
Meyiwa was shot and killed at Khumalo home in Vosloorus in the presence of Kelly’s sister Zandile, her mother Ntombi, Longwe Twala and two of Meyiwa’s friends.
Gininda further said Khumalo in the conversations with her sister Zandi showed that she hated Meyiwa and wanted to get rid of him as early as 2013.
“It is clear that she hated him and wanted to get rid of him. She further states that she regrets not succeeding in getting rid of him before. Taking into account all these facts, an inference can be drawn that she meant killing him. Cellphone records show that after the incident took place, she phoned a number of people from her phone but no call was made to emergency services,” he said.
Khumalo also allegedly went to a witchdoctor for cleansing after Meyiwa’s death.
“Evidence through sworn corroborating evidence established a causal link between the offenders and the offences of murder, robbery and aggravating circumstances, possession of an unlicensed firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition and conspiracy to commit murder. Kelly Khumalo seems to be the trigger point of this murder,” Gininda said.
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