Senzo Meyiwa. File photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images/Getty Images
Zandile Khumalo on Tuesday said three gunshots had gone off when two intruders entered the house in which Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa was killed on 26 October 2014.
Khumalo took the stand as the first state witness in the murder trial that started afresh with a new judge, Ratha Mokgoatlheng, replacing Tshifhiwa Maumela, who was suspended for misconduct after failing to deliver judgments within a reasonable period.
Zandile Khumalo, whose sister singer Kelly Khumalo was Meyiwa’s girlfriend, said she and another person in the house, Tumelo Madlala, pushed an intruder with dreadlocked hair from the lounge towards the kitchen after he had drawn a gun and demanded money and phones.
“The two intruders entered through the kitchen door and walked towards where we were seated in the lounge area,” Zandile testified.
“The first intruder with dreads drew his gun and pointed at us, Kelly ran to my bedroom and the other intruder went after her to open the bedroom door. Longwe Thwala then stood up and pushed the dreaded intruder towards the passage and went out. After that we [Zandile and Madlala] then stood up and pushed the dreaded man towards the kitchen.”
Khumalo said a gunshot went off and she and Madlala ran to the bathroom. A second and third gunshot went off while they were still hiding in the bathroom. She said she could not see who shot Meyiwa, who captained football club Orlando Pirates as well as the national team, Bafana Bafana.
Although Khumalo is the first witness in the new trial, she was the fifth and last one in the initial proceedings under Maumela.
The first witness in the previous trial was Sergeant Thabo Mosia, who testified last year that he arrived at the Khumalo family home in Vosloorus, Gauteng, shortly after midnight to take pictures and compile a sketch of the household.
The five suspects on trial, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Ntanzi, Mthobisi Ncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Fisokuhle Ntuli, again pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to the five charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and the illegal possession of ammunition.