'I excused myself from the circus' - Senzo Meyiwa's brother Sifiso sceptical of trial

He’s been watching it all from a distance. Firstly, it’s a lot of time and money to travel from KwaZulu-Natal to Johannesburg for every appearance.

And secondly, every court session leaves him with more questions than answers and justice gets delayed the more it is postponed.

It’s been one of the most fascinating trials in South Africa.

Five men are currently standing trial for murder, accusing of killing South African soccer player Senzo Meyiwa.

The case hasn’t been without any drama, including the attorney for some of the accused being banned from practicing law again.

There have also been shocking revelations as witness after witness testified.

None of it is getting them closer to justice, Senzo’s brother Sifiso Meyiwa says.

He’s glad he’s watching from a distance. His brother, who was a Bafana Bafana goalkeeper, was killed at the peak of his career at the home of his girlfriend, singer Kelly Khumalo.

Read more | 'Maybe we will finally know what happened' - Senzo Meyiwa's brother Sifiso after Zandile Khumalo interview

The case has been postponed to 14 November in the Pretoria High Court and Sifiso thinks there’s still a long way to go before they get to the truth of what happened.

Sifiso tells Drum if he was in court, he doubts he would be able to stomach his late brother’s “so-called best friend’s performance that he pulled while testifying”.

“It is painful to watch a person who claimed to have loved Senzo, we even witnessed how highly he sang praises to him while he was alive and we wonder if it was all real, did Tumelo really love Senzo or he was just fascinated by being around the top goalkeeper in Mzansi?” asks Sifiso.

“Firstly, he is rude, I know Tumelo and the one who was answering those questions is a different person. I see he is still sticking to his story but with new information and incidents that he neglected to tell us as Senzo’s family.

"In a case like this that took years to go on trial and someone [suddenly] reveals that they switched off the lights when cops came to Kelly’s place and that there was a call made by Kelly, and after that call, the cops went away? It makes me wonder what else happened that night that only these people who were there know? We have lots of questions and the fact that they have other people as suspects and not the people who were at the house is another reason I excused myself from this circus,” he says.

Read more | (Dis)harmony in court: Zandile Mshololo sings and Malesela Teffo ‘quits’ as counsel in Meyiwa trial

Sifiso says he knew one day the people who were at the house that Sunday evening would testify and he thought he would be present at court, but even from a distance he can tell that there is more to this case than what meets the eye.

He questions the fact that they respect Tumelo enough not to show his face when he is already known and has made money out the same case, which he says is absurd to him.

While he was shocked that Tumelo’s face is hidden for “protection” and other reasons Sifisio says that “his pointing out accused number 2 as the person who killed Senzo confirmed that there are high-profile people allegedly involved in the case who is coaching him”.

“We were in the process of getting bail for the pointed accused and now that he is identified as the person who killed my brother, the bail application won’t be considered. That means someone told him who to point out because they know this information.

"Tumelo amazes me with the performance because I used to chill and drink with Tumelo and he would talk about this incident, in all those occasions he sounded like the shooting was a mistake and has never mentioned anything about him being in the bedroom when all of this happened,” Sifiso says.

He says there was a time when he showed Tumelo a picture of accused number 3 who is said to have had dreadlocks at the time of the goalie’s murder, and he blatantly denied knowing them.

“When I showed him the picture, I was looking at his reaction and as a person who was friends with this guy, I knew then that the person isn’t the one because he said it himself that he has never seen that person in his life. But all of a sudden he points him as one of the people who were the intruders, it doesn’t make sense.”

He’s still hoping one day they will get the truth, the whole truth, which he doesn’t believe will come out of this trial.

“I am hopeful that all [truths] will prevail maybe as the trial continues. But I can tell you that the current accused have nothing to do with this, and I hope the law is fair and justice will prevail,” Sifiso says.

He's not the only one with doubts. South Africans are invested in the case and have questions.