Zandie Khumalo-Gumede’s Bold Letter to President Ramaphosa Shakes Up the Senzo Meyiwa Murder Trial
Zandie Khumalo-Gumede, with heartfelt concern, has penned a letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa regarding the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial.
This comes after the National Prosecution Authority named Ratha Mokgoatlheng as the new trial judge to determine the fate of five men accused in the murder of Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa.
In her letter, Zandie Khumalo-Gumede fervently implores that the trial receives the utmost priority. She beseeches that a designated courtroom be assigned exclusively to this case, where the trial proceeds relentlessly on a daily basis, every week until a final verdict is reached.
Notably, Zandie Khumalo-Gumede is the sister of Kelly Khumalo, the renowned actress and singer, who was romantically involved with Senzo Meyiwa at the time of his fatal shooting during a robbery at Kelly Khumalo’s residence in Vosloorus.
Zandie Khumalo-Gumede, having previously testified as a witness prior to the trial’s suspension, conveys the following excerpt in her letter to the president:
“Mr president the reason I’m writing to you this letter is because I have a plea that | would like to make to you, I did mention my limited knowledge when it comes to court dynamics and boundaries and I also understand that there are timetables and time frames attached to each court and each case, nonetheless I would like to request a serious prioritization of the Senzo Meyiwa case moving forward.
My biggest wish would be to try and put a bit of pace to the proceedings of this case. I would like for the sake of the families who haven’t found closure after so long to request that one court is earmarked specifically for this case, a specific law team is also appointed to deal with nothing else but this case and this case is in court from Monday to Friday up until it is concluded and a verdict has been given…”
Zandie Khumalo-Gumede’s Full Letter To President Ramaphosa
We publish Zandie Khumalo-Gumede’s full letter below:
Dear Mr President (Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa)
My name is Zandie Khumalo and I’m one of the witnesses in the ongoing Senzo Meyiwa trial and I was also in the house on that tragic night of the incident, Mr President I would like to first come clean to you, I am not a very avid “formal letter” writer as I am just a music writer who targets the heart and provokes thoughts and emotions and it is because of this reason that I ask you to bear with me as you are a person that deals with a lot of formal documents, Mr President I have no Vincent Magwenya at my disposal so I have high hopes that I will be able to put my points across to you clearly and you are able to grasp them without any difficulties. In fact if I was writing this on top of a music beat as per normal things would have been much easier for me and I would be more confident and certain of my writing however we are here now so here goes………..
Mr President let me start by extending my appreciation to you for your prompt response to the JSC request to recuse the sitting judge on the Senzo Meyiwa case, I would however like to state that with my limited knowledge of the courts modus operandi and its dependence or independence to politics fam not certain if the decision to recuse the sitting judge was a good one or a bad one and I don’t either condone or condemn it but it was rather comforting for me to learn that you Mr president has an eye and interest in this court case.
Mr President a life was lost on that fateful night and it has been a long painful 8 years for families that were and are still very much affected by the incident, let me speak for my family at least…..My family (Khumalo family) has done everything in its power to assist the law officials solve this case and it has been deemed not sufficient by some but trust me Mr President it hasn’t been by lack of trying and we will continue to avail ourselves and continue to assist where we can. I would love to say we were at the wrong place at the wrong time Mr President but we were not, we were at home having an amazing time with friends and family, we were at a place where we thought we were safe but it was clearly not safe enough for us and certainly not safe enough for Senzo.
Mr president the reason I’m writing to you this letter is because I have a plea that | would like to make to you, I did mention my limited knowledge when it comes to court dynamics and boundaries and I also understand that there are timetables and time frames attached to each court and each case, nonetheless I would like to request a serious prioritization of the Senzo Meyiwa case moving forward.
My biggest wish would be to try and put a bit of pace to the proceedings of this case. I would like for the sake of the families who haven’t found closure after so long to request that one court is earmarked specifically for this case, a specific law team is also appointed to deal with nothing else but this case and this case is in court from Monday to Friday up until it is concluded and a verdict has been given. During my media black out application that I made at the Pretoria high court it was quite evident that the whole country has an interest in this case so putting measures in place to ensure that the case moves at a much faster pace wouldn’t be a bad thing for everyone involved. | have been on that stand Mr President and it is not a nice place to be but | would do it again with emotions running high for however many days if it means solving this case quicker, it is a traumatic experience to relive that day in front of the whole country but what choice do | have, l…..like many South Africans would like to see justice for Senzo.
Mr president | know this might not be the normal or traditional way of doing things but | do feel it will help greatly the people affected by this case, people have been bleeding for 8 years Mr President and prolonging and dragging this case even more won’t help them in any way, insults have been hurled, accusations have been thrown and theories have been created so it is in the best interest of the country at large that the case is prioritized and fast tracked. It has been 8 years Mr President and no one can say they don’t have enough evidence, all critical and required evidence have been collected and have been analysed so let the court run its course now uninterrupted and it is about time. Mr President I think I speak for almost everyone when I say, the postponements, delays and breaks have been more than enough and it is time we completely do away with them.
I thank you for your time Mr President.
Regards,
Zandie Khumalo