If there’s a hit, there’s a mastermind, says Gerrie Nel after Meyiwa arrests

Exactly six years after Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa was shot dead in his home, the police finally announced the arrest of his five alleged killers, but the mastermind remains unnamed.

Late on Monday, after police minister Bheki Cele boasted about the arrests, Meyiwa’s brother, Sifiso, said he was happy with the development, but still did not know who was behind the slaying.

“I am still in shock at what I am hearing ... Although we are grateful, we remain anxious that the mastermind has not been arrested. We remain hopeful that more arrests will follow,” he said at a joint press conference with AfriForum on Monday evening.

AfriForum was approached about a year ago to intervene in the then five-year-old cold case. Asked if he and AfriForum agreed on who their main suspect was, Sifiso replied: “Yes, we’re in agreement.” But neither he nor AfriForum’s head of private prosecutions, advocate Gerrie Nel, or CEO Kallie Kriel would comment further.

Nel also expressed disappointment at the lack of an arrest of a “mastermind”, but said he was pleased with how the investigation had progressed. Police, he said, had a “strong case”.

While it remained unclear why Meyiwa was killed, Nel confirmed suspicions that it was not a botched home invasion.

“We have been briefed to say this was not a robbery gone wrong. This was an assassination. So the one outstanding aspect here, and we are disappointed it hasn't happened yet, is to address the mastermind because, if there’s a hit, there’s a mastermind,” said Nel.

During a media briefing in Pretoria on Monday, Cele praised the police’s “cold-case unit” and its work in bringing the alleged killers to book. Despite much speculation over the years, Cele said the unit persevered and “never lost sight of their work at hand”.

Speaking to TimesLIVE shortly after Cele’s announcement outside the Meyiwa home in Umlazi, south of Durban, family spokesperson Siyabonga Meyiwa said the family was emotionally prepared for what lies ahead.

“I suppose there will be a feeling of betrayal maybe, with some people, about why certain truths didn’t come early. There will be all types of emotions.

“Anger, elation, disappointment, because people should have known and come up with information a long time ago. There is an argument that among the people present no one was brought in for questioning,” Siyabonga said.

Little is known about the five suspects, barring speculation in the media, including reports that the murder weapon had been found and that a man already behind bars had confessed to the killing.

At the weekend, the Sunday Independent reported that the suspect who pulled the trigger that ended Meyiwa's life was arrested on June 16 in Rustenburg, North West.

But the police remained tight-lipped, with Cele saying that “leaks compromise and jeopardise investigations”.

“It does give us a little bit of a problem. Your scoop might be scattering our investigation.

“We really condemn these leaks and strongly believe that information may have been leaked in an attempt to derail the investigations,” Cele said.

The 27-year-old goalkeeper was gunned down in the presence of his girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo; her mother, Ntombi; sister Zandi; Zandi’s boyfriend, Longwe Twala; his friends Mthokozisi Twala and Tumelo Madlala; and their son, who was four years old when his father died.

At the time, it was alleged the shooting was the result of a botched robbery.

One man was arrested shortly after Meyiwa’s killing. The suspect was, however, later released and has since slapped the police ministry with a lawsuit for wrongful arrest.

Until recent developments, no other arrests had been made.

The breakthrough in the soccer icon’s murder came when the team of investigators discovered the firearm that killed him, police commissioner General Khehla Sitole said. One of the five suspects arrested was believed to be the one who pulled the trigger. 

“This is backed up by forensic evidence, connecting such suspect to the scene, as well as the weapon suspected to [have been] used.

“What is key is the ballistic evidence relating to the firearm. It is only now that we found the weapon. We have been looking for the weapon for the duration of the investigation,” said Sitole.

“With the final tactics applied, we found the weapon and, fortunately enough, the weapon is ballistically connected to the crime scene.

“This is not an easy, but a very complex case, and it required a lot of investigation.”

He said further investigation would determine whether Meyiwa’s killing was a hit.

Sitole said some of the suspects were arrested, while others were charged in prison, adding that more arrests would be made soon.

Before Meyiwa’s father, Samuel, died from a second stroke in Durban at the age of 66 in 2019, he refused to be silenced by authorities from expressing his frustration at the lack of progress in the investigation.

The suspects are expected to appear in the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.