Law enforcement agencies started this week on a good note, with arrests in two cases involving people whose murders were well publicised — DJ Sumbody and Ekurhuleni municipality auditor Mpho Mafole.
Mafole, who was the city’s group divisional head for corporate and forensic audits, was shot while driving on the R23 in Esselen Park in Ekurhuleni on June 30.
Detectives from the Gauteng serious and violent crime unit made a breakthrough when they arrested a 40-year-old suspect in connection with Mafole's murder on Sunday. He is expected to appear in the Kempton Park magistrate’s court on Wednesday.
Police said they are looking for a second suspect, Hlanganani Agripper Mncwango, after a warrant of arrest was issued for him by the court. Police urged Mncwango to hand himself in at the nearest police station.
DJ Sumbody, real name Oupa John Sefoka, was killed in a hail of bullets in Woodmead in November 2022. Another person was killed in the same incident and a third died in hospital.
On Monday, Gauteng organised crime detectives and the police's political killings task team arrested four suspects in connection with the murder of Sefoka and his two bodyguards, Sibusiso Mokoena and Sandile Myeza.
Sandton businessman Katiso “KT” Molefe, who is accused of being the mastermind who ordered the hit on DJ Sumbody, appeared in court on Tuesday with his co-accused and alleged hitmen, Michael Pule Tau, Tiego Floyd Mabusela and Musa Kekana.
These arrests are welcome. They show that law enforcement, despite its challenges with infighting at the top, is resilient in following up on cases, even years after these murders had been committed. The arrests should also strike fear into would-be criminals that law enforcement officers do not rest until perpetrators of these heinous crimes are brought to book.
However, the arrests are the first step in ensuring justice for the affected families.
Though the prosecution is usually successful in sending suspects to jail after presenting compelling evidence before court, the country has seen a number of cases where arrests were made with much public fanfare only for them to falter when presented in court
Though the prosecution is usually successful in sending suspects to jail after presenting compelling evidence before court, the country has seen a number of cases where arrests were made with much public fanfare only for them to falter when presented in court.
In August last year, Moroadi Cholota, the former personal assistant of former Free State premier Ace Magashule, returned to South Africa following extradition from the US after the state linked her to a R255m asbestos tender corruption case. News camera crews lined up at the airport to record her return, where she was accompanied by police officers.
However, the Free State High Court found on June 3 that Cholota's extradition was unlawful and the court was precluded from trying the offences she was charged with. Cholota was then discharged.
Then there was the case of Nigerian televangelist and rape accused Timothy Omotoso, who was acquitted alongside two co-accused in April. The three were arrested eight years earlier.
When delivering judgment, Gqeberha high court judge Irma Schoeman found that the trio was not guilty mainly due to the fact that the former prosecutors in the case acted improperly and the accused were not sufficiently cross-examined by the state. The state seeks to set aside the judgment.
Cases in the public limelight demand that the prosecution ensures that it gets its ducks in a row to ensure a successful outcome. Though the state routinely sends hundreds of people to prison for various crimes, it is in these so-called public cases that the state should strive to ensure that suspects are sent to jail, to ensure there is public trust in the criminal justice system.
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