Will Teffo expose Senzo Meyiwa’s killer?

Well, it looks like Advocate Daniel Teffo has won the first round in the eight-year battle to find the person or people who fired the shot that claimed the life of former Bafana Bafana captain and Orlando Pirates keeper Senzo Meyiwa in Vosloorus in 2014.

Teffo’s argument is that the State should release his four clients and dismiss the current case against them. He said that the people who were present inside Kelly Khumalo’s mother’s house on the night Senzo was killed should be prosecuted.

In a surprise move, indications are that the controversial advocate could soon see his argument to have the current trial at the High Court in Pretoria dismissed and the five men accused of the murder immediately be set free come to fruition.

Teffo argues that the people who should be standing trial in court for the murder of the former national soccer star should be arrested and brought to court.

And now, after an initial squabble on the issue, the NPA seems geared to considering Teffo’s option to prosecute all of the seven people mentioned in the controversial second docket which calls for the move.

The names of those mentioned in the second document include singer and film actress Khumalo, who was romantically linked to the murdered Senzo at the time. The couple has a daughter born during their romance.

Others who were also present with the deceased that night, were Kelly’s young sister Zandile Khumalo, their mother Gladness Ntombi Khumalo, Longwe Twala, the son of township pop artist, Chicco Twala, Mthokozisi Twala and Tumelo Madlala, two of Senzo’s friends also from KZN and a Vosloorus neighbour of the Khumalo’s known as Maggie Phiri.

Earlier court evidence revealed Phiri as the person who is believed to have cleaned blood stains in the kitchen in a bid to conceal that Senzo was murdered inside the house.

According to Teffo, the NPA’s initial move to arrest and charge the seven was aborted without an explanation and on October 2020, Police Minister Bheki Cele announced a breakthrough which he claimed led to the arrest of five suspects.

The introduction of Teffo in the trial seems to have completely altered the direction of the controversial murder crime which has been dragging on for the past eight years with no solution in sight.

And now that the NPA seems to be considering its initial suggestions and finally pushing on with the recommendations of its 2019 document. Legal minds believe the chances are the current trial as it stands at the Pretoria High Court could soon see its curtains drawn and the legal drama finally reach its finale.

Without a doubt, this means soon a list of new names could be added to the trial sheet on what will be the final run of the murder mystery. Charges could be perjury, withholding information from investigating officers, concealment of a dead body, failing to report a death, transporting an uncertified dead body, and failing to report a death to the police.

According to Teffo’s earlier submissions, the second docket contains the names of all people who were present in the house when Senzo was killed and listed as the accused. And in a previous submission, the second document calls for the prosecution of all the witnesses.

Senzo’s murder took place inside the home of Khumalo’s mother in Mzamo Acres in Vosloorus on the night of October 26, 2014. The murder was later described by the police as a “botched” home robbery gone wrong committed by three unknown intruders who allegedly later fled led the scene soon after Senzo was shot and killed.

However, Teffo’s call is to have all those who were inside the house with Senzo at the time of his death to be arrested and charged with defeating the ends of justice. Teffo argues that the people who were inside the house that night the deceased was shot, should appear in court and honestly answer questions about what they know about Senzo’s death.

And for the past eight years, the Senzo murder case has remained unsolved as police failed to apprehend his killer or killers. However, the arrest and court appearance of five male suspects charged with the same murder at the Boksburg Magistrates Court in 2020 seemed to have provided relief, until the five suspects openly denied their involvement in the killing of Senzo.