Meyiwa trial: Longwe Twala called to the stand

In yet another twist in the almost decade-long Senzo Meyiwa murder mystery, Sello “Chicco” Twala has revealed his son, Longwe, will be taking the stand to testify in the High Court in Pretoria.

The music mogul and businessman told Radio 702 host Clement Manyathela that the state’s prosecution wants to feature his troubled son on its witness list after he was taken in for questioning by the police.

Longwe, who is known to have battled drug addiction over the years, allegedly left the rehabilitation centre where he was undergoing treatment on 8 March.

In a 2022 interview with Newzroom Afrika, Twala claimed despite the fact that Longwe and singer Kelly Khumalo knew who killed Senzo, they kept mum.

“I think the people who know the truth, it’s my son, Kelly Khumalo and the rest of the guys who were there,” he told news anchor Xoli Mngambi. “They know who killed Senzo, my son knows, Kelly knows, everybody knows.”

Last Friday, the spotlight turned again to Khumalo’s potential involvement when the confession statements of two of the five murder accused – Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya and Bongani Ntanzi – were read in court.

Sibiya and Ntanzi implicated Khumalo as the “mastermind” who paid the accused R100 000 for the hit on her then-boyfriend and father of her child.

The 27-year-old Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana footballer was gunned down in an alleged botched robbery on 26 October 2014 at the home of Khumalo’s mother, Ntombi, in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg.

Longwe and his then-girlfriend, R&B singer-songwriter and Khumalo’s sister Zandile “Zandie” Gumede, were watching an “English soccer game” along with Khumalo, her mom and Meyiwa’s friends from KwaZulu-Natal, Mthokozisi Thwala and Tumelo Madlala, when the intruders allegedly entered the house.

Gumede, the first state witness to take the stand when the rebooted trial commenced on 18 July, 2023, denied under cross-examination that she was fighting with Longwe on that fateful night.

A state witness, whose name was withheld for security reasons, had allegedly claimed Khumalo’ told him Meyiwa was shot while trying to stop a fight between Zandie and Longwe.

“Firstly, Longwe and I were not fighting,” Zandie told the court in response to the claim. “We were very happy at the time and in a very good space. The fact that I invited him to my home, that means we were on good terms.

“What is being said by the witness, I know nothing about.”

Longwe is no stranger to the long arm of the law, with his string of offences even including stealing a R10 chocolate bar at a petrol station in Soweto.