Kelly implicated Sonko freed

PRETORIA - The five men accused of killing former Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa were allegedly paid R100 000 to do the job.

This was revealed in accused 1 Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya’s confession statement read at the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria yesterday.

Following a five-month long trial within a trial which looked into the admissibility of confessions and pointing out by accused 1 and 2, Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng ruled that the confessions are admissible.

Sibiya, Ntanzi along with Mthobisi Prince Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Fisokuhle Nkani Ntuli are on trial for the murder of Meyiwa.

Pleaded

The men face charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, robbery with aggravated circumstances, possession of firearms without a licence and possession of ammunition.

All five men pleaded not guilty.

Yesterday, the police officers who took down accused 1, Sibiya and accused 2, Ntanzi’s statements testified in court.

Lieutenant Colonel Solomon Raphadu who took down Ntanzi’s confession statement in June 2020 revealed that Kelly Khumalo was the mastermind. It also implicated all the other accused and the their roles in the execution of the murder.

Delivering his ruling in the trial-within-a trial on whether confessions by Sibiya and Ntanzi were admissible, Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng told the court that the two confessed voluntarily, freely and were not coerced as they had claimed.

Ntuli is a well-known hitman linked to six murders in KwaZulu-Natal and was sentenced to six life terms and 39 years in January 2022.

DAKAR - Senegalese opposition firebrand Ousmane Sonko and the presidential candidate he is backing in the March 24 election, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, were released from prison on Thursday, state broadcaster RTS said on its website.

Their release had been expected after Parliament passed an amnesty law on March 6, as the authorities sought to ease tensions following their thwarted bid to postpone the vote by 10 months.

details

RTS did not give further details, and it was not immediately clear where the pair were after their release.

Thousands of supporters massed in Dakar, the capital, to celebrate the news, chanting Sonko’s name on the gridlocked street where he lives. Some lit flares, danced or tooted their motorbike and car horns.

“We have been waiting for this day for so long. Prayed for it,” said a health worker.