Johannesburg – Family and friends of murdered former Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria, chanting “Voetsek Khumalo” and carrying placards reading #nojustice, #novotes and #justiceforSenzo, as frustration over the handling of the case continues to grow.
Senzo’s brother, Sifiso Meyiwa, was emotional as he spoke about the night the football star was shot dead, insisting that the five men currently standing trial are not responsible for his brother’s death.
“Our family, we believe in God, and we have hope that we are going to find justice,” Sifiso said, before making a startling claim about what really happened that night. 
“Those people in court are not the right suspects. I am saying this because on the same night my brother died, Tumelo Madlala called the family and said he was shot by mistake. Where is the mistake now? That is the main reason we know what happened.”
Madlala was a friend of Senzo who was present in the house during the shooting.
Sifiso said he was told his brother was not shot by criminals. “If the truth were revealed, I was going to cause a lot of problems. The real thing that happened was my brother was shot by mistake while he was trying to separate Zandile Khumalo and her boyfriend, because they were fighting,” he said. Zandile is the sister of Senzo’s then girlfriend Kelly Khumalo.
Sifiso also pointed to a second docket, saying it contains the “right suspects.” The contentious second docket was opened in January 2019, five years after the murder in 2014, by two police officers during an impasse in the investigation. It implicates Kelly Khumalo and others who were present at the crime scene. However, the director of public prosecutions in Pretoria has said a final decision on the docket will only be made once the current trial is concluded.
University of Limpopo criminology and criminal justice head of department Witness Maluleke said the signs of the wrong people being prosecuted were clear from the beginning.
“Meyiwa’s family has suffered multiple betrayals and never-ending wounds for more than a decade. Expecting justice to be served remains a hopeless hope for them. The family experienced enough, and their pain cannot be justified. This cold case is an example of power dynamics,” Maluleke said.
Criminal law expert Cornelia van Graan said the case represents a broader failure of the justice system. “In South Africa, we have a serious problem with a defunded, destabilised and understaffed justice system. It is the victims like Meyiwa who pay the price. He leads the charge for so many other victims whose cases remain unresolved and unseen,” she said.
National Assembly chair of the portfolio committee on police Ian Cameron said he understood the family’s frustration but urged patience. “We need to let the law take its course and the trial needs to be completed,” Cameron said.
