Pretoria – One of the five men arrested for the October 2014 murder of Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates ace goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa is set to apply for bail next week.
Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, accused number 2 in the high-profile murder case, is the man pinpointed by Meyiwa’s friend Tumelo Madlala as one of the intruders on the night the footballer was fatally shot in Vosloorus, Gauteng.
Ntanzi, aged 32, did not have a criminal record before he was arrested for Meyiwa’s murder. He was nabbed in Rustenburg in 2020.
After a short sitting on Friday, Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela postponed the trial of the five men to November 14. From November, the case is set to run until December 2.
“This matter is postponed for the purposes of further hearing, with the accused in custody. The matter is postponed to November 14, 2022. However, accused number 2, Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi shall make an appearance in this court house for purposes of launching a bail application next week,” the judge addressed the five detained men.
The prosecution, led by advocate George Baloyi, said arrangements have been made for Ntanzi, who is in custody, to be brought back to court on Thursday next week, to apply for the bail.
“That has been arranged with the JP (Judge President) for the hearing of the bail application for accused number 2 just next week Thursday. His detention warrant can be endorsed accordingly,” Baloyi submitted.
The bail application for Ntanzi will, however, be a mammoth task after he was pointed out on Thursday as the person who was wrestling with Meyiwa inside the Khumalo house, before the footballer was shot dead.
The third State witness, Madlala told the court that he vividly remembers Ntanzi from the October 2014 night when Meyiwa died.
Madlala insists being in the same room with Ntanzi makes him “uncomfortable”.
“That one, that man in blue or green T-shirt. That is the man who was held by Senzo. That is the man who had his beard cut,” said Madlala pointing directly at Ntanzi who was sitting in the dock, among his co-accused.
Sitting in the heavily guarded court, Ntanzi was smiling as Madlala kept accusing him.
Defence lawyers sharply objected to the identification of the accused in the court. They argued that the witness was unreliable.
Meyiwa was killed on October 26, 2014, while in the company of his girlfriend and the mother of his child, Kelly Khumalo, in Vosloorus.
In the house, that day were Meyiwa, Kelly and her younger sister, Zandile, their mother Ntombi Khumalo (MaKhumalo), Longwe Twala, Meyiwa’s friends Mthokozisi Thwala and Tumelo Madlala, Kelly’s then four-year-old son, Christian, and Thingo, her daughter with Meyiwa.
Five men, Ntanzi, Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Mthobisi Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Sifokuhle Ntuli, are facing charges of murder, attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, possession of an unlicensed firearm as well as possession of ammunition.
All of the accused have pleaded not guilty.
IOL