Music and film producer Chicco Twala has come out guns blazing after the defence of one of the accused in the Senzo Meyiwa trial told the North Gauteng High Court on Monday that he must be subpoenaed to testify in the trial. The lawyer, Thulani Mngomezulu who is representing accused number 1 Muzi Sibiya told Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng on Monday that he would like for Twala, Orlando Pirates boss Dr Irvin Khoza and Meyiwa's baby mama and Afro-pop star, Kelly Khumalo be forced to testify in court.

SENZO WAS NOT SHOT BY ROBBERS

This forth-coming subpoenas were prompted by Sifiso Meyiwa, Senzo's elder brother's statement, read in court on Monday. Sifiso claimed he was told by Dr Khoza that the five accused facing murder charges were not the in the house when Meyiwa was shot dead in October 2024. In his statement, Sifiso said that he submitted three statements to different police detectives between 2014 and 2018 where he mentioned that Pirates boss Khoza told him in 2014 that the story that robbers entered the house and shot Senzo was not true. He said that Khoza told him that the story was given to the media and that it was not the real story. "I was in Kempton Park to prepare my brother's funeral on 28 October 2014, on the same day, Mr Rufus dropped me off at the Orlando Pirates offices and took me to the reception area. After a while, Mr Irvin Khoza came and his son who were driving a Porsche Cayenne. Mr Irvin Khoza told me we were going to choose a coffin. We reached funeral parlour and the coffin was chosen. My sister-in-law, Mandisa, was also present when the coffin was chosen. I would like to state that Mr Irvin Khoza told me that Senzo Meyiwa, my brother, was not shot by robbers. These were the actual words of Mr Irvin Khoza," he said in his statement, adding that, Senzo was not shot by intruders but that he was shot by mistake during a fight between Zandi and her then boyfriend Longwe Twala who is Chicco's son. "I would like this matter to be investigated to find out who told Mr Irvin Khoza what happened inside the house when my brother was killed."

HE DOESN'T SEE A REASON TO TESTIFY

In an exclusive interview with ZiMoja, Twala criticised Mngomezulu for insisting that he must be forced to testify in the murder case just because his son was present when Senzo was murdered. He even called Mngomezulu an incompetent and fly-by-night lawyer. He said he does not understand why he should become a witness when his gun was taken for ballistic testing, and the results came back negative. 

Twala was also critical of Mayiwa's brother, Sifiso, saying he should allow the police space to complete their job. Twala said he doesn't understand why he and Khoza should be subpoenaed. "What will the state get from me or Irvin's testimony. We were not there when Senzo was killed. Dragging my name and Irvin into the Senzo Meyiwa murder case is nothing but attention seeking exercise by this fly-by-night advocate Mngomezulu. The man is just marketing himself not that he wants justice for Senzo. He is making noise about an old issue that was raised by Sifiso a while ago. Mngomezulu is beyond incompetent," he added.

HE BEGGED SENZO'S FAMILY

Twala added, "Today I called Senzo's family and pleaded with them to advise Sifiso to allow the police to do their work. It's him who is making a mockery of Senzo's criminal case. He fired Gerrie Nel after being told the truth about the weapon that killed his brother. He added: "My gun and Carlos Mncube's (one of the accused) were taken for ballistics tests, and it was confirmed beyond reasonable doubt by the ballistic experts and Bheki Cele that it was Carlos' gun that shot and killed Senzo," he said. Twala also said that he sometimes doubts if Sifiso wants justice for Senzo.

Twala is still standing by his stance that if Longwe is proved to have killed Senzo, he should go to jail. "The first time we heard that Longwe shot Senzo accidentally was in 2019, and it was Sifiso Meyiwa who made the allegations that we are seeing the incompetent Mngomezulu making noise about. I also don't have evidence that Longwe or the people who were in the house are innocent or guilty hence the law must take charge and expose Senzo's killers. Like I said before, if it is my son who killed Senzo and the state proves beyond reasonable doubt that it's him, let him rot in jail." he concluded.