South Africans call for prompt resolve of the Meyiwa murder trial

Some citizens, who are closely watching the Senzo Meyiwa case, accuse the state of misusing resources.

They believe justice for the late soccer star and his family should have been served by now.

“For now we feel like it’s a waste of state resources because everyday it’s the same thing. They postpone then come back and postpone and come back. I don’t think there is any positive outcome from these hearings,” says one citizen.

“I feel like justice must be served. Why does this one have to take such a long time when other cases are being solved as soon as possible? Because now we are asking ourselves: Aren’t we all equal before the law?,” probes another South African.

Five men are on trial for the Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalie and captain, who was gunned down while visiting his then girlfriend’s house, Kelly Khumalo, in Vosloorus in 2014.

As the quest for justice for the Meyiwa family rages on, some South Africans are feeling edgy and unsettled.

They believe, by now, it should be clear who could have pulled the trigger or planned the murder.

Orlando Pirates fans are unhappy about the pace of the trial, slamming the prosecution team as incompetent.

One Olando Pirates supporter, who claims Meyiwa was his favourite player on the squad, shares the views of other football fans who believe the country’s justice system is in shambles.

He believes the prosecuting team in the trial should be changed, citing a lack of confidence in it as reason for the call.

“I feel like the people who are handling this case are failing to do so. There must be alternative ways or alternative people to handle the case,” exclaims the staunch Orlando Pirates fan.

The young man says he finds it disturbing that the late football star’s father died while trying to find out who is responsible for his son’s death. Now, his elderly mother is also going through the heartbreak of witnessing the dragging of the case.

One football fan, who feels hard done by the country’s justice system, believes there are more individuals in prison for crimes they did not commit due to a lack of funds.

“There are some people who are impoverished who commit crimes and promptly get convicted. There are even some people at Kgosi Mampuru Prison who are arrested yet they know nothing about the cases that they are being charged with and they stand a high chance of getting convicted – even though they are innocent – just because they do not have money,” says the soccer lover.

The investigating officer in the Meyiwa murder matter, Brigadier Bongani Gininda, is still fending off accusations that he and his team assaulted two of the five suspects, Bongani Ntanzi and Muzi Sibiya, into confessing to the murder.

Sibiya has accused the police of coercing him into confessing to the Bafana Bafana star’s death, claiming he was asphyxiated with a plastic over his head and also kicked around while lying on the ground after assuring them that he knew nothing about the murder.

Gininda disputes the assault allegations, claiming that Sibiya confessed by himself during a 30 minutes long interrogation, which was held privately by him in the back seat of a car which was escorting Sibiya shortly after his arrest.

The defense lawyer, Charles Mnisi, has also caught flames from some followers of the case, who have slammed him as ignorant.

They are unhappy with the calibre of questioning in the case.

The footballer’s then girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo, has cropped up as the alleged mastermind in the matter but the prosecution team has not expressed the intention to call her to the stand nor prosecute her – something some South Africans are still frowning over. Written by Odirile Rabolao