HOW COPS BUNGLED SENZO CASE
NOT THEIR MAN: COURT RELEASES MBATHA DUE TO ‘LACK OF EVIDENCE’ ‘He was drinking at a tavern when Meyiwa was murdered,’ claims friend.
The withdrawal of robbery and murder charges against a man earlier suspected of shooting dead Bafana and Orlando Pirates captain Senzo Meyiwa has shone a harsh light on how police investigate serious crimes.
Yesterday’s withdrawal of charges against the man suspected of shooting dead Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa points to police bungling, according to neighbours of the freed suspect and a legal commentator.
A few days earlier, divisional commissioner of the police detective service Vinesh Moonoo had said he was confident they had arrested Meyiwa’s killer.
At the time, he said at least two witnesses had “positively identified” Zanokuhle Mbatha (25) as the man who shot Meyiwa at his girlfriend Kelly Khumalo’s Vooslorus home on the East Rand.
However, yesterday Boksburg Magistrate Daniel Thulare said he was releasing Mbatha “immediately” because the NPA did not have enough evidence to back up the murder and robbery charges.
Mbatha was arrested last Thursday after being identified during an identity parade. Now Mbatha’s friends and neighbours want to know how the police bungled the investigation to the point of arresting the wrong man.
Reacting to his friend’s release from custody, Mzukisi Nqosane said: “Our police have really blundered this time around, but I would like to call on them to go out there and look for the real suspects.
“I was shocked because the Zamkuhle I have known for the past four years would not engage in criminal activities – or worse, go as far as killing someone.
Our police have really blundered this time around Mzukisi Nqosane A friend of Zanokuhle Mbatha, who was released yesterday
“He was having drinks at a tavern when Senzo was killed and, like myself, only knew about the murder the day after it happened,” Nqosane said.
Other neighbours agreed, saying they were shocked Mbatha was arrested in the first place.
Police had been out in full force outside the court in anticipation of trouble. They even erected barbed-wire fences.
But after the matter was withdrawn, disappointed relatives, friends and soccer fans left quietly.
Johan Burger of the Institute of Security Studies said he believed police had acted hastily in making Mbatha’s arrest. “They handed over the docket before it was ready. But it is up to the NPA to check they have a prima facie case before taking it to court.”
He said the police would have have to “go back to the drawing board” to either get more evidence against Mbatha or show he was not connected to the murder at all.
It is unclear what effect this possibly incorrect identification by witnesses of a suspect will have on positively identifying any future suspects.
In Durban, Sam Meyiwa, the father of the slain Bafana captain, said while he was disappointed his son’s killers were still at large, he did not want innocent people to be arrested for the murder. “While it is painful to the family, we respect the court’s decision to free the suspect,” he said. – stevent@citizen.co.za
Hours after the senseless slaying of Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana skipper Senzo Meyiwa, the national police commissioner announced a high-level task team to capture the soccer star’s killers. The multidisciplinary team comprised national and provincial investigation divisions, assisted by provincial and national crime intelligence, as well as the visible policing and war room divisions. What came from this “highly specialised” team was the arrest of a man investigators believed was behind the crime that angered millions of South Africans. But guess what: the suspect, Zamokuhle Mbatha, was freed yesterday following a brief court appearance after it emerged Riah Phiyega’s men arrested him without sufficient evidence linking him to the crime.
Just last week, divisional commissioner for detective services Lieutenant-General Vinesh Naidoo assured South Africans police were confident Mbatha had played a role in the killing. It is precisely this kind of incompetence and negligence that is limiting our police’s ability to reduce crime. No wonder Meyiwa’s family enlisted the services of private investigators.
They, like many South Africans, simply did not have confidence in the SAPS. If such a high-profi le team can make blunders – arresting someone without enough evidence – what hope is there for ordinary victims of crime not privileged enough to have task teams assigned to their cases? Not only is this negligence destroying the very lives police should protect, it is also placing a huge burden on the taxpayer.
The SAPS pays billions of rands annually in lawsuits for wrongful arrests and police brutality. The blunder also has severe repercussions for Mbatha, whose life will probably never be the same. Thanks to police amateurism, this man’s life is in danger. Mbatha has to return to the same enraged community, full of football fans, who were told by incompetent police he was involved in the crime that cut short their hero’s life.