Meyiwa: Where was Longwe Twala?
The son of music producer Chicco Twala is the only adult unaccounted for in the moments after the Bafana Bafana goalkeeper was killed
One of the questions left unanswered, so far, at the Senzo Meyiwa trial is where Longwe Twala was shortly after the footballer was shot in an alleged botched robbery in October 2014. Longwe, the son of music producer Sello “Chicco” Twala, is the only one of the six adults in the house when Meyiwa was shot whose movements are unaccounted for after the former Bafana Bafana captain was killed.
The clarification is required because, on 1 June, advocate Dan Teffo alleged that Meyiwa was shot and killed by the footballer’s girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo, with a revolver that Twala brought to the crime scene.
Teffo used to represent Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Ntanzi, Mthobisi Ncube and Mthokoziseni Maphisa, the trial’s first four accused, who are now represented by TT Thobane. Fisokuhle Ntuli, the fifth accused, is represented by Zandile Mshololo.
Meyiwa was shot at the Vosloorus, Gauteng, home of Khumalo, who was also present when her lover was killed.
Besides Longwe, the other adults in the house when Meyiwa was murdered were
Kelly; Gladness Khumalo and the house’s owner, Zandi Khumalo, who is Kelly’s sister; Mthokozisi Thwala, Meyiwa’s friend and cousin to his wife, Mandisa Mkhize; as well as Tumelo Madlala, Meyiwa’s childhood friend.
Madlala, who is the state’s third witness and the first person from the house to give evidence, told the court this week that Longwe disappeared after two alleged intruders entered the Khumalo home, thereafter Meyiwa was killed.
On Tuesday, Madlala said that when the alleged intruders entered the house, Longwe pushed the first robber — who was “a short man with dreadlocks” — out of the way, before rushing outside “to call for back-up”.
Madlala reiterated that testimony on Wednesday, responding to state prosecutor George Baloyi’s questions about whether there was enough light in the house for the witness to be able to recognise the dreadlocked intruder.
Madlala said: “Seeing that he [dreadlocked intruder] was standing at the opening leading to the dining room, I don’t think anyone who was in the house would not have been able to see him, in that position he was standing in.
“The reason I’m saying that is that there is no way Chicco’s son [Longwe] could push someone he could not see.”
Madlala said that that was the last time he saw Longwe. The previous two police witnesses — Sergeant Thabo Mosia and Sergeant Mlungisi Mthethwa — testified to having seen or spoken to Longwe after the shooting.
None of the photographs presented as evidence during the trial show a red VW Polo, which Madlala said belonged to Longwe and was in the Khumalo yard when the crime occurred.
Asked by Baloyi whether any other car, besides Meyiwa’s BMW X6, was in the yard on the night of the shooting, Madlala said there was a VW Polo, adding: “I think the Polo belonged to Longwe.
“Now that I think [about it], it was Longwe’s Polo because I also saw the very same vehicle in
Mulbarton [a suburb in south Johannesburg]. I don’t remember the day but I remember seeing it in Mulbarton.”
Asked by Baloyi where Longwe was after the intruders had allegedly fled, Madlala said: “I don’t remember seeing Longwe.”
Mulbarton was where Longwe, Gladness Khumalo and her two daughters, as well as Kelly’s two children, slept on the nights after the crime.
Madlala testified that the Mulbarton house, which is inside a gated community, was a home shared by Kelly and Meyiwa.
It is the same house where Madlala alleged that Chicco Twala wanted to send Kelly on a vacation the day after Meyiwa’s murder.
“I’m just not sure about the day but while I was still in Mulbarton, Chicco Twala arrived. Because Kelly was crying and I was also not well, Kelly informed Chicco that this is Senzo’s friend. I heard Chicco speaking to Kelly, asking Kelly whether she did not want to go overseas for a holiday,” Madlala said.
He added that Kelly told the security officers at the Mulbarton estate that they should not allow the police to enter the complex but that they did.
“I think Kelly must have seen them [the police]. I think they wanted to peep through the blinds and Kelly said the electricity should be switched off,” Madlala said, adding that the electricity was switched back on after the police departed.
With the lingering questions about the gun used to kill Meyiwa, and the involvement of Chicco Twala and his son, it will be important for the state to clarify Longwe’s movements after Meyiwa was shot.