Senzo Meyiwa's girlfriend Kelly Khumalo posted this picture with him just hours before he was shot dead. File picture
JOHANNESBURG - As the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial is expected to reveal further shocking revelations in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, this week with a new State witness, public discourse continues to push for singer Kelly Khumalo and her sister, Zandile, to tell the truth.
Things took a sharp turn in the court case last week after a number of contradictions, starting with the testimony of the State’s third witness, Nthabiseng Mokete. She told the court that Zandile rushed to her car, screaming for help and urging them to call an ambulance as Meyiwa had been shot.
The defence counsels for the five men on trial highlighted that this contradicted Zandile’s version that she had gone to seek help from her mother’s best friend, Maggie Phiri, not Mokete, as they were not close.
The fourth witness, Colonel Lambertus Steyn, caused further calls for Kelly and Zandile to “fess up” after he revealed that Fisokuhle Ntuli, the fifth accused, had called Kelly on two occasions prior to the shooting of Meyiwa on October 26, 2014.
Ntuli was said to have called Kelly on August 2, 2014, and on October 15, 2014, with the calls lasting 110 seconds and 96 seconds respectively.
Steyn also revealed that the police discovered an SMS sent by Longwe Twala, musician Chicco Twala’s son, just after 10pm on the night in question, which read: “Senzo is dead. They just shot him in front of us.”
This was in contrast to what Zandile testified – that Twala was not in the house when three shots rang out, fatally wounding Meyiwa.
Contradictions in the versions of the occupants of the house also caused a stir over the shots fired, as Khumalo testified that three gunshots went off on the night, while another witness, Mthokozisi Thwala, told the court of hearing two gunshots.
After this, social media was flooded with comments demanding answers from the Khumalo sisters, as well as prominent figures calling for answers from the occupants of the house, in particular that Kelly knew something about the killing of Meyiwa.
The Tribute To Women concert and the Maseru Jazz Festival announced last week they were dropping Kelly from their line-ups.
The representatives stated that they believed the singer was “innocent until proven guilty in a court of law”. However, they wanted to give the singer and her legal team the space to deal with the trial. And despite the public backlash and mounting calls for answers, Kelly has hit back at negative comments on her Twitter timeline.
The trial resumes on Monday.