Meyiwa murder trial: Muzi Sibiya admits being related to some of his co-accused

The first accused in the Senzo Meyiwa trial has admitted to being related to some of his co-accused in the Pretoria High Court.

Muzi Sibiya took the stand as the defence's first witness on Monday.

The defence opened its case three months after the State called its last witness.

Prosecutors believe Sibiya and his four co-accused are behind the 2014 murder of the Bafana Bafana captain. 

When the five accused initially appeared in the Boksburg Magistrate's Court in connection with Meyiwa's murder, some of the men denied knowing each other and said they only met on that day in the dock. 

But Sibiya revealed that the only one of the accused that he did not know was the alleged gunman, Mthobisi Mncube.

"I know Ntanzi from back home. Our villages are not far apart. Maphisa is from my maternal side. Ntuli is from my maternal side but from a distance," Sibiya said.

He spent the day detailing how he was arrested and charged with drug-related charges, but the police assaulted him multiple times in order to force him to confess to the crime.

Despite having a signed confession presented in court, Sibiya has denied confessing to the murder of Meyiwa.

He will continue with his testimony on Tuesday.