Suspect’s father tells of arrest heartache
Mandla Sibiya, whose only child is one of five men charged with the murder of Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa, says he is heartbroken — and police have arrested the wrong person.
“What I can tell you is that I have not been well since my son was arrested. I’m so heartbroken thatmy only child in this world is accused of such a serious crime,” Mandla said this week from his home in Nongoma, KwaZulu-Natal.
Sources with knowledge of the investigation told the Sunday Times that Mandla’s son, Muzikawukhulelwa (Muzi), was the first to be arrested by police acting on information from Meyiwa’s father, Sam Meyiwa, and he had provided a statement.
“My son called me, crying, saying he has been arrested,” Mandla said. “He said police were beating him and threatening to kill him. When I asked him why he was arrested, he said the police said he killed Senzo.”
Mandla said police first came to his home looking for Muzi a few weeks before his arrest.
“I told them that I don’t know anything and they should not involve me. As a parent, I can’t say for certain that I know my son’s dealings, but I honestly don’t think he did what he is accused of doing.”
Mandla was a traditional leader at Basuthwini Hostel in Vosloorus until March, when he left. According to media reports, Meyiwa’s murder was planned at the hostel.
Mandla declined to explain why he left the hostel, saying: “I don’t want to get involved. My family has been terrorised by police over this Meyiwa matter.”
Muzi lived with his father and three cousins in a three-bedroom unit in the hostel
until two years ago.
Mandla’s niece, who asked not to be named, said that in August, about half-adozen police officers picked her up for questioning and assaulted her.
She said that the officers interrogated her over a period of nine hours, accusing her of being with Meyiwa’s killers the day of the murder. She alleged that the officers dragged her around by her handcuffs and nearly suffocated her when she did not provide the answers they sought.
“I didn’t even know who they were talking about. I didn’t even know who Meyiwa is because I never followed soccer,” she said.
The niece told the Sunday Times that
Muzi moved out of the hostel after losing his job at a factory in Germiston. But when the Sunday Times visited the company, it had no record of employing anyone by that name.
She has not laid a complaint of assault with either the police or the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid).
Like Mandla, she believes Muzi is innocent, and a “very respectful somebody who never loved crowds and was always home”. But the police tell a different story.
Police spokesperson Brig Vish Naidoo said detectives had been looking for Muzi in connection with attempted murder cases in Vosloorus in 2016 and 2017.
On May 30, Naidoo said, police traced Muzi to Tembisa and arrested him for drug dealing but also found him in possession of ammunition, and laid a further charge.
Naidoo said he first appeared in court on the drugs charges on June 1.
That week, police took Muzi to Nongoma, where his wife confirmed that he lived there and on June 8 he was in court again, “unscathed”, for a bail application.
“He was represented by an attorney and no mention was made that he was ‘assaulted’ or ‘tortured’,” Naidoo said.
In none of his subsequent court appearances has Muzi ever mentioned any assault, Naidoo said.
On Monday, still in prison, hewas formally arrested for Meyiwa’s murder.
“It should seem very strange to anyone that the father is complaining about the alleged ‘ assault or torture’ of his son but the son is not,” Naidoo said.
He denied that the niece had been detained for as long as she says she was, “nor was she assaulted or threatened in any way”. “We would like to encourage her to report this matter to Ipid as soon as possible.”
I can’t say for certain that I know my son’s dealings, but I honestly don’t think he did what he is accused of doing