“No, It’s Not True”: Brother Says Sinakho Sibiya Was at School When Meyiwa Was Killed

Constable Sizwe Zungu, the state's key witness in the Senzo Meyiwa trial, told the court in 2023 that a young man named Sinakho Sibiya was at the Basotho hostel in Vosloorus in October 2014. On 5 November 2026, Sinakho's younger brother testified for the defence in the Pretoria High Court and said that could not be true. The witness, Mr Ntombela, told the court his surname is Sibiya but he uses Ntombela. He said Sinakho was his brother, with the same mother and father, and that he is also related to accused number one, Muzi Sibiya. According to Zungu's evidence, Sinakho came to him at the hostel, sent by accused number five, and asked him to move his car. The witness said that in 2014 Sinakho was at home in the village in KwaZulu-Natal, in Grade 11 at school, and had never been to Johannesburg. He said Sinakho first came to Johannesburg in 2017, was shot and wounded at home that year, and was killed in a shooting at the Basotho hostel in 2022. Under cross-examination, the state read him Zungu's earlier evidence that Sinakho was a child who grew up at the hostel and later moved to the village. "No, it's not true," he said. The state also read from Zungu's cross-examination in October 2023, when the lawyer for accused number four put it to him that Sinakho was in Grade 11 at the time. Zungu said he knew Sinakho was at the hostel and was the person who called him. The state pointed to a statement by accused number one that says Sinakho died in a shooting in Johannesburg in 2020. The witness said it was 2022, not 2020, and agreed those are different years. He said he moved into the Basotho hostel in 2019, that Sifiso "Gwabini" Zungu, the constable's nephew, lived in Block N, and that Gwabini is related to accused number one. He also said he knew accused number two, Bongani Ntanzi, from home but never saw him in Gauteng. Asked about Sinakho's age, he agreed Sinakho was born in 1995 and stood by his evidence that he was in Grade 11 in 2014. The five accused, Muzi Sibiya, Bongani Ntanzi, Mthobisi Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa and Sifisokuhle Ntuli, have pleaded not guilty to the murder of the Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper, who was shot at the Khumalo family home in Vosloorus on 26 October 2014. The defence case continues. #SenzoMeyiwa #MeyiwaTrial #SinakhoSibiya #SouthAfricaNews #CourtNews Sources & Credits: Video clips and information used under Fair Use for news reporting, commentary, criticism, and public interest discussion. Credits include: SABC News