Accused No. 1 claims police tortured him to extract a confession

Senzo Meyiwa Trial: Accused No. 1 claims police tortured him to extract a confession

Mapaballo Borotho

Accused number one in the Senzo Meyiwa murder case, Muzi Sibiya, claims police tortured him to force a confession about the footballer’s 2014 murder.
Sibiya testified in the Pretoria High Court that he was beaten and coerced into signing a pre-written statement.
The court has also directed Legal Aid to fund travel and accommodation for all defence witnesses.

Accused number one in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, Muzi Sibiya, has once again accused the South African Police Service of torturing him in an attempt to extract information about the football star’s murder.

Sibiya took the stand in the Pretoria High Court on Monday as the high-profile trial resumed after a three-week break. The defence had previously requested more time to prepare its witnesses.

The court is hearing the case against five men charged with the 2014 murder of Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa, who was shot and killed at singer Kelly Khumalo’s mother’s home in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg.

The Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates footballer was gunned down in what the State is calling a “botched home invasion”.

According to the State, Sibiya allegedly acted as the lookout on the night of 26 October 2014.

Speaking softly and through a translator, Sibiya told the court that he was arrested in 2019 for a crime he insists he knows nothing about. He claimed he was tortured and assaulted by several police officers during his interrogation.

This is not the first time Sibiya has made these allegations. During a trial-within-a-trial last year, he testified that police officers forced him to sign a pre-written confession implicating himself in Meyiwa’s murder.

Meanwhile, the court has ordered Legal Aid South Africa to cover accommodation and travel costs for all defence witnesses for the duration of their testimonies.

Muzi Sibiya has told the Pretoria high court that when he appeared alongside his co-accused in the #SenzoMeyiwatrial in October 2020, he only knew three of the men.

He says during this appearance this was the first time he met accused number 3, Mthobisi Mncube.#KayaNews TT https://t.co/xc95D8owaQ

— Kaya News (@KayaNews) October 13, 2025