Cops under fire over Senzo killing bungle
A senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies has lambasted the way in which the police mishandled Senzo Meyiwa’s murder case right from the beginning.
|||Johannesburg - A senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, Johan Burger, has lambasted the way in which the police mishandled the murder case of Senzo Meyiwa right from the beginning.
According to Burger, given the fact that this is a high-profile case, it should have been handed over to the Hawks much earlier, or given to a dedicated task team of experienced detectives from the start.
He went on to say that this failure has caused the bungling of the investigation.
“Because Meyiwa was a well-known sportsman and a public figure, put the police under immediate pressure and they had to conduct the investigation in the full glare of media attention,” he said.
“It is quite possible that the police, as a result of these pressures, initially arrested a suspect that they eventually had to release because they could not positively connect him with the murder.”
Asked what the chances of solving this case almost two years after the murder are, Burger said it was impossible to say.
“Outside of the police investigation, we know too little to venture an opinion. But it’s almost two years now since his death in October 2014 and we can only assume that if there was any conclusive evidence available, the police would already have made an arrest.
“However, murder investigations are often more complex than most others and it is not unknown for some murder investigations to carry on for more than just two years before there is a positive outcome.”
However, Burger said this case could not be regarded as one of the cold cases because a cold case referred to a case that was closed (filed) by the police because of a lack of sufficient evidence. With the Senzo murder, the case was never closed.
Since the case has been back with the police, they have told The Independent Newspapers that they will no longer comment about progress or lack of publicly.
Meyiwa died after being shot at the home of his girlfriend Kelly Khumalo in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni. Anyone with any information that could lead to the arrest of the perpetrator should call Crime Stop at 0860010111.
Sunday Indepedent