Meyiwa’s father demands answers

WHEN Police Minister Nathi Nhleko came down for the traditional beach walkabout by law enforcement leaders on New Year’s Eve among the throngs of beachgoers was one man who was not in a festive mood but desperately wanted to meet him.

For the minister it was business as usual. Little did he know that the father of the slain Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates captain wanted to seize the opportunity under the blistering sun on Thursday December 31 to meet him and seek answers about the murder of his son, Senzo Meyiwa, more than a year ago. For the still hurting and sometimes confused father, life could not go on as “normal”.

While the minister and the SAPS top brass gathered outside the police station near North Beach to address the media, Sam Meyiwa was spotted trying to attract their attention.

Meyiwa’s gripe has been that after a year of investigation into his son’s murder his killer or killers are still unknown.

“It really breaks my heart that everyone’s life is going on as normal but my family still has no closure on who killed my son. I will leave no stone unturned. I am doing this for my son who died a hero but now he has been forgotten,” Meyiwa said.

But a week later when the Sunday Tribune wanted to follow up on the meeting Meyiwa said he had with Nhleko, it turned out that he had spoken to the acting national police commissioner, LieutenantGeneral Kgomotso Phahlane, who was in full uniform. He realised his mistake and said he had wanted to speak directly with the minister.

“I should have spoken to Nhleko but I missed out on that because I had no clue what he looks like and the fact that he was casually dressed made it worse,” he said.

Meyiwa said he had also spoken to a Hawks boss (he did not mention the name) who promised to come down from Joburg.

“We were due to meet three weeks ago but he has several times postponed the meeting without an explanation, perhaps he has a busy schedule,” he said.

But the police failed to respond to questions from the Tribune forwarded to them on Thursday.

Meyiwa was also disappointed that people who were in the house when Senzo was shot had failed to provide assistance to the investigation.

Meyiwa said his life had been threatened by people (he did not want to reveal names) because he was fighting for the truth.

“They do not want me to ask probing questions over my son’s death,” Meyiwa said.

Meyiwa accused his son’s childhood friend Tumelo Dladla, and Senzo’s then girlfriend Kelly Khumalo of getting on with their lives, in spite of them being at Kelly’s home the day his son was murdered.

“He (Dladla) lives not very far from here but he does not come here any more. There is a veil of secrecy surrounding my son’s death from the people he loved,” he said.

TIMELINE

October 26, 2014: Senzo Meyiwa was shot dead in Kelly Khumalo’s home in Vosloorus.

October 29, 2014 (Three days later): police wrongfully arrested Zanokuhle Mbatha, 25, and charged him with the murder. He was later released because of insufficient evidence. Mbatha sued the police minister Nathi Nhleko for R7.5 million (R5m for defamation and R2.5m for unlawful and wrongful arrest)

November 1, 2014: Senzo Meyiwa was laid to rest at the Heroes Acre Cemetery in Chesterville.

November 3, 2014: the head of detectives LieutenantGeneral Vinesh Moonoo told the world: “We (the police) are sure the person we have charged is one of the suspects involved in the incident. We are confident he is linked to the crime, and he will be charged with murder and robbery.”

The police have offered a R250 000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Meyiwa’s killers.