Legendary music producer Chicco Sello Twala has expressed great anxiety about the Senzo Meyiwa murder investigation after his National Orders nomination was allegedly withdrawn before it was publicly announced. The National Orders are the highest honors bestowed by South Africa on its people and deserving foreigners and were presented on April 28, 2023.
Twala claimed that his name was initially included in the list of 35 nominees, but the final list was reduced to 32, and his name was omitted. He further revealed that a representative from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration approached him and requested his profile, stating that he had been nominated for the National Orders.
Twala stated that when the nominations were made public, his name was not on the list, and a representative from the President’s office informed him that his name had been removed due to the Senzo Meyiwa murder investigation.
Senzo Meyiwa, a former goalkeeper for Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana, was killed on October 26, 2014, at the Vosloorus, Gauteng, house of his ex-girlfriend Kelly Khumalo. Longwe Twala, Twala’s son, was one of the witnesses charged with firing the gun the night Meyiwa was killed.
During his testimony in November of last year, Tumelo Madlala, a friend of Meyiwa, accused Longwe Twala of killing Meyiwa. Timothy Thobane, the defense attorney for defendants 1 through 4, made a revelation, saying he did not inform anyone that Longwe Twala killed Meyiwa because he did not have a firearm with him.
Twala has denied any connection between his name and the murder investigation and expressed disappointment that he is being made to take responsibility for something he did not do. “At this point, I doubt I’ll ever earn this unique prize because I am already portrayed as a horrible person,” he said.