National Commissioner General Sitole

DNC Lt General Mfazi

Members of the media

Good Afternoon to you all.

Today marks exactly six years since former Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates captain Senzo Meyiwa was shot dead.

His murder which took place in Vosloorus in Ekurhuleni brought the Meyiwa family immeasurable pain.

It also sent shockwaves across the country and the continent.

South Africans from all corners joined the Meyiwa family, in demanding justice for this brutal murder.

But with no arrests, hope of whether or not Senzo Meyiwa’s killers would be found began to fade away for some. 

But not for us in the South African Police Service.

Despite heavy criticism from some quarters, I have always maintained that I am satisfied the murder investigation is progressing well.

I have on numerous occasions also expressed my confidence that those suspected of this crime will be found and brought to book.

Ladies and gentlemen, I still stand by this statement.

In 2018, the National Commissioner established a cold case team in response to many calls on various criminal cases which have not been successfully investigated. Months later, the murder case of Senzo Meyiwa was assigned to the cold case unit.

Since then, the unit has worked tirelessly on this case.

During these past two years, the Senzo Meyiwa murder case generated speculations of who could have been responsible for the sports icons murder.

Despite this, the investigators never lost sight of their work at hand.

While those speculations were rife, the case also attracted much media attention and media leaks touching on some aspects of the investigation.

Members of the media,

We really condemn these leaks and strongly believe that information may have been leaked in an attempt to derail the investigations. 

This is why moving forward, the investigation team will be considering opening a case or cases of defeating the ends of justice to ensure such leaks never occur again.

Despite this interference, the Cold Case Team persevered.

After gathering sufficient intelligence, information and evidence, 

I’m happy to announce that there has been a breakthrough in the Senzo Meyiwa murder case.

The first FIVE suspects have been arrested between 8am and 10 am this morning in Gauteng and Kwa Zulu-Natal.

These arrests are as a result of a multi-disciplinary integrated approach to this investigation which is working closely with the Directorate for Public Prosecution.

The South African Police Service and the prosecution team are confident that we have a water- tight case against all five suspects.

At this point, we cannot reveal any further information as investigations are still ongoing and more arrests cannot be ruled out.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In Conclusion, for us in the police service it was always important to take time and work thoroughly on this case to ensure Justice for Senzo Meyiwa. 

While six years have gone by, we remain confident that these arrests are the start of bringing closure for Senzo Meyiwa’s family friends and fans as well as millions of South Africans.

I’ll allow the National Commissioner to give more details on these arrests. 

I thank you.