A so-called “key state witness” who provided the breakthrough for the arrest of two accused in the Senzo Meyiwa case has distanced himself from the toxic ongoing trial.
Absolom Zungu has deposed an explosive affidavit at the Newcastle Police Station, throwing lead investigating officer Brigadier Bongani Gininda under the bus for allegedly cooking evidence.
“Witness” denies implicating two suspects
Zungu says he never deposed to a sworn statement nor provided any information implicating accused Muzi Sibiya and Bongani Ntanzi despite Gininda’s testimony claiming so.
The old man, in the affidavit that we have seen, says he was shocked with the rest of South Africans when he heard Gininda namedropping him during his testimony at the trial time and time again.
According to Zungu, Gininda had in fact tried to coerce him to testify in the Meyiwa trial. But he rejected his many advances bordering on intimidation and harassment.
Zungu said attempts to bribe him to testify were also made, and still, he refused. And it was because he knew nothing about the murder of the former Bafana Bafana captain, which has turned into one of the most complex murder cases in democratic South Africa.
Sworn affidavit denies all
“During the court proceedings for the murder trial of the former Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa in the High Court in Pretoria this year, Brigadier Gininda told the court that I told him that two accused Mr Sibiya and Mr Ntanzi were involved in killing Senzo Meyiwa,” writes Zungu in the affidavit poised to throw a spanner in the works of the marathon murder trial.
“During the year 2023 I met Brigadier Gininda and a certain white female in Newcastle. Brigadier Gindinda asked me to come and testify in court and to implicate Sibiya and Ntanzi as the people who killed Senzo Meyiwa.
“And further, he said he will make sure that he protects me and even promised me that he will take me outside South Africa for my own security. But I refused and did not speak or meet him (again) until I heard him in court implicating my name while he was giving evidence.”
Gininda, since last year, told the court that Zungu was crucial in how the state arrived at the decision to arrest and charge Sibiya and Ntanzi.
He said through Sikhumbuzo Zungu, a police officer and son of Zungu, the senior Zungu had provided a sworn statement implicating Sibiya and Ntanzi.
Gininda based case on “witness” statement
Zungu has distanced himself from any alleged statement to the police as claimed by Gininda. He said he was now fearing for his life and scared of Gininda, who appears hellbent on involving his name in the Meyiwa trial.
“I now fear for my life that I am not safe at all because lately Brigadier Gininda keeps on phoning me that he wants to meet me in an open veld and I should not tell anyone or come with someone. But I keep on telling him that I will not be able to meet him because I am afraid of him,” Zungu’s affidavit continues.
“My son Sikhumbuzo Zungu, who is also a police official in Gauteng, was also phoning me and trying to convince me to meet Brigadier Gininda.”
As recently as a fortnight ago, Gininda told the court that Zungu could not come before the court to back up his statement in person because he was scared.
Fears for his life
But Zungu says the person he is scared of is Gininda, who has been steadfast in trying to convince him to become a state witness, even promising to give him gratification.
“The investigating officer at no stage …met me, and if he met me, where is my statement? If I did submit it, they have to show me that statement. Brigadier Gininda, at some stage, wanted my bank account so that they can deposit money if I was willing to testify,” charged Zungu.
“Brigadier Gininda lied at court that I was not willing to testify knowing very well that I did not submit any statement.
“I never made any statement to Brigadier Gininda about the death of Senzo Meyiwa because I know nothing about that. Only my son, who told me that he was called by the accused to meet him in a hostel in Gauteng, where my son gave them a firearm and car keys and left him. Then he came back later and changed clothes and put firearms on the table, and later there was a braai for celebration.”
