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)
State witness Sergeant Vusimuzi Mogane told the Pretoria high court on Thursday that an informant had told the police about Bongani Ntanzi’s alleged involvement in the murder of Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa on 26 October 2014.
Mogane told the court that he had 21 years of service in the police force and was attached to the National Cold Case unit, where his duties as a detective included investigating suspects, collecting exhibits and making arrests once investigations were concluded.
He said, in 2019, Brigadier Bongani Gininda, who was still a colonel at the time, had received information about the footballer’s murder.
“We sat down and discussed the matter. The name of Bongani Ntanzi came up and an informant told us that he was involved in the matter.
“We looked into it and tried to establish how we could locate him and we found out he worked at a mine in Westonaria. We looked for him but we could not find him,” Mogane said.
More cases that Ntanzi was allegedly involved in were discovered, he said. “There was another big case of Nongoma which he was involved in and another case of Vosloorus but that had nothing to do with this matter.”
The search for Ntanzi had continued until police located him in Phokeng, Rustenburg, on 16 June 2020. Mogane said the police had told Ntanzi that he was being arrested for a murder committed in Nongoma in KwaZulu-Natal and his rights were read to him.
When asked about his knowledge of Meyiwa’s death, Mogane said Ntanzi indicated that he heard about it on the news and was working on the day the football star was murdered.
“I asked him, because he was a suspect, where he was on that day and he said he was at the Sibanye-Stillwater mine in Westonaria. We asked him if he could take us there to ascertain he indeed was there. Since it was already late, we did not go and we took him back to the cells and an entry was made in that regard,” Mogane said.
Furthermore, Mogane told the court that on 18 June 2020, the police travelled with Ntanzi to his workplace, where records showed he had not been at work on the day Meyiwa was killed, contrary to what he had told them.
On 10 October 2023, the human resources manager at Sibanye-Stillwater, Hendrik Louis Mulder, told the court that Ntanzi had left work early on 26 October 2014 and only returned on 2 November.
Ntanzi is among the five men accused of killing Meyiwa at the home of his girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo, in Vosloorus, Gauteng.
All five have pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and the illegal possession of ammunition.