Police Minister Bheki Cele said that the five arrests were made on Monday morning in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Police Minister Bheki Cele said that the five suspects arrested in connection with the killing of Bafana Bafana Captain Senzo Meyiwa would appear in the Boksburg Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Cele and National Police Commissioner Khehla Sithole gave an update on the protracted murder case of the former Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates captain.
Cele said that the five arrests were made on Monday morning in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
“These arrests are a result of a multi-disciplinary integrated approach to this investigation, which is working closely with the director of public prosecutions,” Cele said.
“The South African Police Service (SAPS) and the prosecution team are confident that we have a watertight case against all five suspects,” he added.
It has been six years to the day since Meyiwa was murdered at the Vosloorus home of his then-girlfriend Kelly Khumalo’s mother.
Just last week, it was leaked to the media that a gun allegedly linked to the killing had been found.
Cele condemned these leaks saying it interfered with the work of investigating officers.
“Moving forward the investigation team will be considering opening cases of defeating the ends of justice to ensure that such leaks never occur again. Despite this interference, the cold case team perseveres,” he said.
INVESTIGATIONS STILL ONGOING
Sitole said that the suspects were linked to the crime through forensic evidence and the suspected murder weapon.
“One of them is the key suspect suspected of having pulled the trigger in the case, but secondly this particular process is backed up by forensic evidence connecting such suspects to the scene as well as the weapon suspected to have been used,” Sitole said.
Police did not rule out more arrests.
At the same time, the Meyiwa family told eNCA that it was hoping that the arrests made would lead to those responsible for their son’s killing being brought to book.
“The family is very happy; the mother is also here. All of us are extremely elected. And we’ve been looking forward to this day but it’s very sad that Senzo’s father is not here to hear this. But we will be even happier when all the people responsible for his murder are behind bars,” said family spokesperson Siyabonga Meyiwa.
Watch Interview: Senzo Meyiwa Mother expressed frustration at the slow progress made with solving the case: