Accused number two in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, has stuck by his guns and denied that he had a hand in the murder of the late soccer star.
Through his lawyer, attorney Sipho Ramosepele, Ntanzi told the Pretoria High Court on Monday that he did not kill Meyiwa, and he was nowhere near the scene of the murder.
Ramosepele was cross-examining the lead investigator in the Senzo Meyiwa murder case, Brigadier Bongani Gininda.
“I want to put the accused’s version to you. He denies being one of the intruders entering the house. He denies being the so-called intruder who was dark, tall, had a beard and wore a hoodie on the night of the murder.
“He denies knowing the actual perpetrators in this murder. He denies knowing who planned this murder,” said Ramosepele.
In response, Gininda said evidence that police gathered places Ntanzi at the murder scene, and the police evidence shows that Ntanzi was involved in the planning of Meyiwa’s murder.
Killed at then-girlfriend’s home
Meyiwa, the former Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper, was shot and killed at the house of the mother of his then girlfriend, singer Kelly Khumalo, in Vosloorus, on the East Rand, on October 26, 2014.
The people who were present in the house during the murder were Kelly, Kelly’s sister Zandile, their mother Gladness, Meyiwa, Zandile’s then boyfriend Longwe Twala, and Meyiwa’s close friends Tumelo Madlala and Mthokozisi Twala.
According to the state indictment, Meyiwa was shot once in the chest while in a standing position, and the bullet went through his chest and exited his back, hitting the back of the door behind him.
The cause of death was determined to be a bullet that hit his heart and lung.
Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Ntanzi, Mthobisi Prince Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Sifisokuhle Nkani Ntuli face charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, possession of firearms without a license, and possession of ammunition.
They have pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
The trial continues on Wednesday with the cross-examination of Gininda by Mncube’s lawyer, advocate Charles Mnisi.
