For five years, no one other than Meyiwa Senior has ever opened up about the impact the loss of the family's most famous and loved son's death has had in the family. That Meyiwa Senior has since followed his son to his own grave, partly due to the serious impact his son's demise had on him, is now history.
Senzo died from a bullet wound in a house full of eyewitnesses but, to this day, nothing has come of the case other than a number of promises to get to the bottom of the case. We've been given time-frames to expect arrests, but nothing has happened, other than one wrongful arrest. With the family finally coming out, one gets a feeling that the end is near. It may have taken five years, but better late than never, they say. The family breaking their silence gives hope that something will give, sooner or later. Senzo's mother's emotional cry on television and even calling out on his killers to kill her as well should be enough to induce deep empathy even to a hardened criminal. It was a heartbreaking sight that painted a picture of what the family has been through over the last five years.
What is increasingly becoming clear is that there is more to what we've heard transpired that fateful evening of October 26, 2014, at Kelly Khumalo's mother's house in Vosloorus, than meets the eye. A number of conspiracy theories have been bandied about, but what is certain is the fact that this case should have been completed years ago, based on the circumstances surrounding it and that there were no less than four witnesses who saw what really happened. With the family coming out, followed what many have always suspected – a cover-up allegation that someone or people are being protected at the expense of the late Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper. It doesn't take much to give credence to these claims as murder cases of more complicated nature didn't take this long to resolve. What gives further credence to these damaging claims and media reports is that high-ranking officials who are expected to respect, uphold and enforce the law are implicated in the cover-up, which ultimately means defeating the ends of justice! If this is proved to be true, drastic action has to be taken against anyone involved. In fact, the onus is on our justice to either prove these serious allegations right or wrong in order to take South Africans into their confidence. It is that simple!
That even AfriForum, described by Wikipedia as "A South African organisation focussed on the interests of Afrikaners, a subgroup of the country's white population," have shown more interest in getting to the bottom of Senzo's murder case more than those who are supposed to be pulling out all stops to resolve this ongoing case is further insult to the wound. Why has our government not done enough to expedite Senzo's case? Why have we, South Africans, not done enough to demand more action and, more importantly, for the law to take its course? Does it really have to take AfriForum for our government to uncover the truth about exactly what happened to Senzo? How did we get to this point?
Heads must roll when the truth finally comes out and I hope that's not far from now on. Soccer Laduma received a 'tip-off' from one of the people who were willing to shed light on what had happened, after a series of editorials and letters to the editor, reacting to this dragging case. The guy in question is behind bars but, due to the sensitive nature of the information given to this publication, we recommended that they get in touch with the relevant parties. The source has been keeping Soccer Laduma abreast and even told us about AfriForum's interest to help the family in their hour of need. What the informant has also claimed is that they've even shared information that could lead to arrests and closure of Senzo's case with the authorities. The informant has named and shamed those they've made contact with and even went as far as going on the record with his accusations. What makes it impossible not to believe this source, who claims to be in the know, is the fact that when we extended our hand to get to the bottom of the case by directing them to media colleagues who are well equipped to deal with such stories. According to the informant, contact was made, but the interviews never saw the light of day. That's when it became crystal clear that something was amiss with this case.
South Africa, we owe it to the late Senzo to play our part in putting pressure on the powers that be so that justice for Senzo can prevail. We can't fold our arms and hope that one day, whenever that is, something will come out of nowhere and we will all know what happened to Nzori. We all owe it to Nzori to help bring closure to his family and loved ones by helping the State to ensure that whoever is responsible for his death is brought to book to face the law. AfriForum have set the ball rolling and we just have to cross our fingers that they lead the way to conclude what has been a dark cloud hanging over South Africa for five years now.
If the allegations are proven to be true, as they seem to be, whoever is guilty of covering up must face the law. We can't have people turning our country into a banana republic of some sorts and no one is above the law, rich or poor!
