In a surprising turn of events, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, one of the accused in the Senzo Meyiwa murder case, took the witness stand on Monday to challenge the admissibility of his confession statement.
Sibiya claimed that the confession was obtained under duress, alleging that he and his co-accused, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, were coerced into confessing by police officers who had allegedly beaten them.
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The Pretoria high court had previously heard that both Sibiya and Ntanzi had confessed to having knowledge of the circumstances surrounding Meyiwa’s murder in Vosloorus in 2014. However, Sibiya vehemently denied any involvement in the crime during his testimony, stating that he knew nothing about Meyiwa’s death.
The lead investigator in the case, Brig Bongani Gininda, testified earlier that Sibiya had openly boasted about his role in the murder to people in KwaZulu-Natal who were closely associated with him. Furthermore, after Sibiya’s arrest, he allegedly provided details about the crime scene and described how the shooting unfolded.
Adding to the evidence against Sibiya, a sangoma, whom he had consulted for cleansing before and after the murder, also linked him to the crime. The sangoma’s testimony further complicates the case and raises questions about Sibiya’s claims of innocence.
Sibiya told the court on Monday that he knew nothing about Meyiwa’s death.
Brig Bongani Gininda, the lead investigator, said that Sibiya boasted to those close to him in KwaZulu-Natal about his role in the murder. Following his arrest, Sibiya allegedly pointed out the crime location and detailed how the incident occurred. He was also linked to a sangoma he visited for cleaning before and after the crime.
In the claimed confession, Sibiya stated that he was not the shooter, but he could precisely identify Meyiwa as having been shot in the chest.
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Sibiya is serving time in jail for other cases. He was recently sentenced to 10 years by the Thembisa magistrate’s court for possession of ammunition and dealing in drugs and 12 years for the attempted murder of two women in Vosloorus at whom he had fired shots.
The court will now have to weigh the credibility of Sibiya’s testimony against the evidence presented by the prosecution.
