The five people on trial — Ncube, Bongani Ntanzi, Mthokozisi Maphisa, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya and Fisokuhle Ntuli — have pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and the illegal possession of ammunition. (Gallo Images/OJ Koloti)
A state witness in the Senzo Meyiwa trial told the Johannesburg high court on Thursday that the relatives of accused number one, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, and accused number five, Fisokuhle Ntuli, wanted to kill him.
Constable Sizwe Skhumbuzo Zungu said he knew Sibiya from his hometown, Bergville, in KwaZulu-Natal. The incident occurred on 18 November 2019, he said.
“While I was walking to a shop in Tembisa, I saw the relatives of Sibiya and Ntuli and one of them pointed a gun out of the window but I managed to turn and run.”
Zungu said he had spoken to Sibiya at a wedding in August 2019, telling him that he was worried that Sibiya’s relatives wanted to shoot him.
Sibiya had told him that this was about Meyiwa’s murder, Zungu said.
“Sibiya said this matter is a problem and they should not talk about it recklessly,” Zungu told the court.
Meyiwa was shot in what the state believes was a botched robbery at the home of his girlfriend Kelly Khumalo in Vosloorus, Gauteng, on 26 October 2014.
The five accused, Sibiya, Ntuli, Mthobisi Mncube, Bongani Ntanzi and Mthokozisi Maphisa have all pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and the illegal possession of ammunition.
Zungu told the court that on 26 October 2014, he got a call from his brother’s son, Gwabini, asking him to visit him at a hostel in Vosloorus, Gauteng. When he arrived they sat down and started drinking.
“There were many people there, Muzi [Sibiya], Mafika [Ntanzi, accused number two], Gadla [Mncube, accused three], Mthokozisi [Maphisa, accused four], and Nkani [Ntuli, accused five] arrived and we had a good time; we were having a lot of meat,” said Zungu.
State prosecutor George Baloyi showed Zungu a photo of two men drinking and asked if he knew who they were. Zungu said one of them was Mncube.
Baloyi showed Zungu more photos dated 26 October 2014. Zungu said he recalled that between 8.30pm and 9pm he was in the passage facing the main door to Gwabini’s room.
“Accused one, two and three came in following each other. They looked in shock and quickly went towards Gwabini’s room. I stood up and followed them and went inside the room. The light went off,” Zungu said.
He noticed that Sibiya and Mncube had firearms. “Accused one was carrying a revolver and accused three a 9mm. I then asked Gwabini for my work firearm, which I had left in the room — a 9mm Z88 — and I then smelt it because I suspected that maybe they had gone and used it,” Zungu said.
“I could see something was not going well. What made me suspicious was the way they came in. They went to Gwabini’s room and, as I came in, others said, ‘Here is the uncle,’ and kept quiet.”
Zungu said he remembered what Sibiya was wearing and that he changed his hoodie. He also remembered that the identikit for the case showed that one intruder had dreadlocked hair while the other had a moustache. He said the moustache and hoodie matched Sibiya.
“After some time, accused number one, Sibiya, took off his T-shirt, rolled it and asked if I had heard that Meyiwa was no more,” Zungu told the court.
But no one there was aware of it.
“Everyone in the room was surprised and when I went to social media to check, nothing was there. I then turned to him and said no, his source was wrong,” Zungu said.