Kelly Khumalo’s name crops up again in Meyiwa murder trial
● Singer Kelly Khumalo was this week once again a talking point in the murder of her boyfriend, soccer star Senzo Meyiwa, after the Pretoria high court ruled that the confessions by two of the suspects in his shooting were admissible.
Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng said Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya and Bongani Ntanzi had confessed freely and voluntarily, and had not been coerced, as they had claimed. Their written confessions and statements will now be used to prosecute them.
Sibiya claims in his confession that his friends, Marco Buthelezi and Makhimba Buthelezi, had called him during the week of the murder at the hostel where he was staying in Vosloorus to tell him about a job.
When they arrived at the hostel on the same day, Marco told him they had been hired by singer and actress Kelly Khumalo to kill Meyiwa.
“I asked them if they [had] already charged the money, and they said, ‘Yes.’ They charged R100,000. Marco told us that Kelly wants money from Senzo.”
The confession states that on the day of the murder the Buthelezis fetched Sibiya and they drove to Khumalo’s home in Vosloorus. Sibiya alleges that on the way Marco received a call he claimed was from Khumalo, asking where they were.
“I heard Marco answering the phone and [he] said, ‘We are on the way.’ After dropping the call, he told us that Kelly is calling and wants to know if we are coming. Then we alighted at the corner and walked on foot to the house.”
Sibiya says they decided to make the hit look like a robbery. He says he waited outside. “They entered and closed the door and demanded money and cellphones. They said they found three people in the house Meyiwa and two girls in the dining room. One of the girls was Kelly. They said Meyiwa refused [to hand over] the cellphones and he stood and [grappled with Marco].
“Marco ... shot at him. Kelly ran to the bedroom and came back while they were still pushing each other. The [firearm went off] as a result. Kelly ran back to the bedroom, [and] then the shot came two times again, and they came out running, and we ran to the car, which was parked at the corner of the street.”
The next day, Sibiya says, he received money from Marco, which Marco said he had collected from Kelly. “He gave me R30,000 for my share.”
Makhimba Buthelezi was arrested in KwaZulu-Natal, while Marco was killed by police in Daveyton during an attempted arrest.
Details about the confessions were first revealed in court in January, when lead investigator Brig Bongani Gininda read out his affidavit.
Gininda said both men had implicated Khumalo as orchestrating the hit on Meyiwa, and that Sibiya had even pointed out the crime scene and demonstrated how the murder was planned and executed from a hostel in Vosloorus.
Khumalo’s name has been mentioned several times during the trial. In July, Col Lambertus Steyn from the police’s cold case unit said cellphone records showed Khumalo had been in contact with the five accused on August 2 2014, and then again on October 15 just 11 days before Meyiwa was killed on October 26.
Text messages from Khumalo to her sister Zandile were also read out in court. In them,
Khumalo complained about Meyiwa. “I regret everything. I wish I didn’t allow Senzo into my life. Look at all the mess it has gotten us into,” said one. “I feel like God is deliberately sabotaging me by keeping this man in my life,” read another.
Gininda earlier said in court that it was “abundantly clear” Khumalo hated Meyiwa and “wanted to get rid of him”.
On the day the suspects first appeared in court, in October 2020, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) sent an internal memo that placed Khumalo at the centre of the Meyiwa trial to a media group. It was later deleted, and the NPA issued an apology.
Earlier in 2024, University of Pretoria legal expert Llewellyn Curlewis told the Sunday Times the state had been right not to arrest Khumalo.
“There are a lot of questions swirling around this matter, and some might feel there is a snake in the grass somewhere. But considering what is known about her alleged involvement in the murder and the evidence available, I think the director of public prosecutions made the correct decision in not authorising a warrant for her arrest,” Curlewis said.
However, Elton Hart, an attorney at the University of Johannesburg’s legal clinic, said Khumalo should have been arrested. “She was a definite person of interest. Normally, such a suspect is arrested and, should the state fail to prove its case, the charges would just be withdrawn. Why this [was] not the case in this matter is hard to understand.
“She should be standing in the box explaining to the court what did and did not happen on that evening.”
Legal expert Kabelo Seabi said the NPA probably could not proceed with prosecuting Khumalo because the “independent evidence” from cellphone records was merely circumstantial.
“There is no direct proof that Khumalo was the only person who had access to the phone, [or] that she sent the messages or used the cellphone to communicate with the accused,” he said.
Normally, such a suspect is arrested and, should the state fail to prove its case, the charges would just be withdrawn
Elton Hart
University of Johannesburg legal clinic attorney