Speaking to the public broadcaster’s Morning Live programme, Nel said: “I have had a briefing on the facts as far as the mastermind is concerned and I am confident that an arrest will soon follow and the police have a good case and I just hope that happens. We don’t owe it not only to the family but to society as well to deal with contract killings.”
Drama marked the first court appearance of the five men accused of the crime.
The suspects initially refused to enter the dock, citing innocence.
They appeared in the Boksburg Magistrate Court on Tuesday.
The suspects said they did not understand why they were in court and one of them even accused the Police Minister of not respecting their Constitutional Rights.
Another disputed the police’s claims that they were arrested on Monday morning.
Police top brass, including Minister Bheki Cele, had made the claim.
The suspects’ names are Muzikawulahlelwa Sibiya, Bongani, Ntanzi, Mthobisi Mncube, Mthokosizi Maphisa and Sifis’kuhle Ntuli.
They are facing charges of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.
One of them is said to be Meyiwa’s shooter.
“The court appearance of the accused follows a decision to prosecute the five by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Gauteng Division, Pretoria on Wednesday last week. This decision was based on voluminous credible evidence presented by the SAPS’ investigating team. Thus, the DPP was satisfied that there was sufficient evidence for the police to arrest the five suspects and face the three charges,” the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) says in a statement.
The prosecuting authority also anticipates more arrests.
The suspects will remain behind bars until their next court appearance, which is scheduled for the 27th of next month.
Meyiwa was killed on the 26th of October in 2014, while visiting the home of his girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo, in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni.
A leaked document has linked her to the murder.
Let hope it wont end as suspect this time around like before
All eyes are on the Boksburg Magistrate Court, in Ekurhuleni, where five suspects in the murder of Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa will be appearing on Tuesday.
The accused were arrested on Monday, the same day Meyiwa was killed six years ago.
Police have hailed the breakthrough as a result of a multi-disciplinary integrated approach.
They say they worked closely with the Directorate for Public Prosecutions.
Police suspect that the murder was premeditated with Police Minister, saying more arrests are imminent.
AfriForum has hailed this breakthrough as historic.
“In this day we will remember it’s 6 ago when the tragedy happened. Senzo Meyiwa was brutally murdered and since then I think people in the country have wanted to see justince being done. I think its significant that now we are seeing justice being done.”
The organisation’s private prosecuting unit assisted the police in the matter.
Private prosecutor Gerrie Nel says they will be pushing for the arrest of the mastermind behind the murder.
The Meyiwas are also anxious to see the person behind the murder put behind bars.
Meyiwa’s brother, Sfiso told the media on Monday: “Although we are grateful of the arrest made, we remain anxious that the mastermind was not arrested.”
However, he says, they remain hopeful that more arrests will follow soon.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has congratulated the South African Police Service for the breakthrough.
“Today is a day on which we revisit the sadness that affected millions of us as South Africans when we lost Senzo Meyiwa in 2014. But this anniversary is mitigated by the arrest of five suspects who have been unable to escape the reach of the law, regardless of the passage of time. We congratulate the police for their hard work and persistence. We must now allow the criminal justice system and the judiciary to do their work and handle this matter to finality,” the President said in a statement.
Two of the suspects were nabbed in Gauteng while the other three were found in KwaZulu-Natal.
The Orlando Pirates goalkeeper was killed in October 2014 at his girlfriend’s home in Vosloorus, in Ekurhuleni.
The slow pace in apprehending his killers drew the ire of many South Africans as he had allegedly been shot in full view of his girlfriend, singer Kelly Khumalo, her sister, the sister’s then boyfriend who is said to be Chicco Twala’s son – Longwe, and the women’s mother.
Longwe was accused of having pulled the trigger, a claim he has denied.
There were also allegations of a possible police cover-up.
Meyiwa’s father died with a broken heart in July last year, calling for justice for his son.
