Meyiwa fought hard with first intruder, witness tells court

Minutes before Senzo Meyiwa and his friends were about to leave singer Kelly Khumalo’s home in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni, on the Sunday evening Meyiwa was killed, two intruders entered the house — one after the other — and demanded cellphones and money.

This was according to Meyiwa’s friend Mthokozisi Thwala, who testified in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria yesterday in the murder trial of the former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper, who was shot dead on October 26 2014. 

He told the court that the first intruder carried a firearm while the second one had a sharp object. At first he thought the Khumalos knew the intruder because of how he casually walked into the house, but then he noticed he had a firearm with him.

Thwala said the person, who spoke in isiZulu, had dreadlocks, wore a hat and was short — the same description given by Meyiwa’s friend Tumelo Madlala who had already testified six months ago. At the time of the attack, Meyiwa, Khumalo and her mother Ntombi, sister Zandi and her then boyfriend Longwe Twala were in the house having drinks. Longwe is the son of singer Chicco Twala.  

Before the incident happened, Thwala and Madlala were outside the house when Meyiwa came and said: “Let’s go.”

“When Senzo [Meyiwa] came out and suggested that we should go, I then said yes, indeed, why are we still here and the child [Meyiwa and Kelly Khumalo’s child] is still sleeping,” he said.

But Khumalo asked them to go back to the house and say their goodbyes to her mother. Thwala said it was between 7.30pm and 8.30pm.

Thwala said while in the house “we waited for Senzo to be the one to say we are about to leave or we are asking to leave. I don’t know how a church topic came about but I remember Kelly doing some dance moves, imitating a particular church as to how they would sing.”

However, moments later, Thwala said somebody appeared from the kitchen and Longwe stood up and ran from the house, passing the intruder with the gun on the way out. When Meyiwa and Madlala stood up, Thwala said he noticed there was a second intruder behind the man who demanded their cellphones and money. He, however, couldn’t describe him.

He said Meyiwa charged towards the first intruder. “They [Meyiwa and the first intruder] had a scuffle and were pushing each other towards the kitchen. I remember I took a phone and I removed Christiaan [Kelly’s son] who was in the kitchen area looking at what was happening. I placed him [Christiaan] on the left side [of the sitting room] because I could see there was a scuffle and I was trying to shield him.

“I remember Khumalo’s mother as well as Zandi  were in possession of Tumelo’s crutches because the crutches were sort of leaning towards the wall and then from there they were assaulting these intruders. As much as the kitchen was small the people that were there were Senzo, Tumelo [Madlala], the one that had a firearm, the [second intruder] as well as Khumalo’s mother and Zandi,” said Thwala.

The matter was adjourned to today when Thwala will shed more light on what transpired on the evening Meyiwa was killed.

The accused in the matter are Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Mthobisi Prince Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Sifisokuhle Nkani Ntuli. They face charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, possession of firearms without a licence and possession of ammunition.