Meyiwa case blot on our police and justice system

ONE OF the greatest shames to befall our law enforcement agencies and the ministry of police is that Sam Meyiwa has died heartbroken with no justice for his son – almost five years after he was murdered.

We are convinced the health of Sam Meyiwa – father of slain footballer Senzo – was seriously compromised by the failure to resolve the slaying of his son. It is shocking that a seemingly open and closed case has seen the backs of three police commissioners and two police ministers, who had each promised that his son’s killers would be brought to book.

Senzo, who rose to national fame first as a goalkeeper for Orlando Pirates and would go on to captain Bafana Bafana, was killed during an apparent robbery at his musician girlfriend Kelly Khumalo’s home in 2014.

There were six adults in the family home when he was shot dead, including Khumalo, her mother, sister Zandi, Meyiwa’s friend Tumelo Madlala and Longwe Twala, who was dating Zandi at the time, as well as two children.

So it boggles the mind that police cannot solve the murder of someone as high-profile as the Bafana Bafana captain in front of six potential witnesses.

What chance is there for you and I against crime if police cannot solve the cold-blooded killing of a national team captain in front of so many people?

In fact, the five-year wait for justice that the Meyiwa family endured gives credence to suspicions of some influential figures sabotaging the case.

This again is an indictment on the police and the ministry of police.

Former police minister Fikile Mbalula – now the minister of transport – promised to crack the case when he was appointed to head the police ministry in 2017. He came and went without fulfilling that promise. Mbalula is not alone.

SAPS detectives head Major-General Vincent Leshabane once said police were “closing the net” on Senzo’s killers, but this has turned out to be another empty promise.

Senzo was a national treasure, adored by many fans now desperate for justice. It is painful that the only person actively pushing for justice has died.

Politicians, police and football administrators behind the litany of empty promises must hang their heads in shame. They should shoulder a large part of the blame for Sam Meyiwa dying a broken father.