Johannesburg - “If you have committed a murder you should be sweating right now.” This was the warning from crime-fighting organisation eBlockwatch founder André Snyman at the weekend.
eBlockwatch has created a new online group to raise awareness on cold cases.
Snyman has created a Facebook page called eBlockwatch Heating Cold Cases, in which he hopes to draw awareness to cases, in particular murders, that have gone unsolved.
In launching the site, Snyman’s first focus is on the Leigh Matthews case.
He hopes that people will come forward and report their unsolved cases on the page and through his website www.eblockwatch.co.za.
By reviving the awareness of these crimes, he hopes they will be reinvestigated and perhaps finally solved.
“So many people are being killed daily in South Africa, yet how many convictions are there really?” Snyman asked. “Let’s ensure that, as a community, we don’t just let these cases slip away and the victims be forgotten.”
According to the latest crime statistics, in Gauteng alone there were 3 333 murders last year. In countries in which there have been successes in fighting crime, solving cold cases has been one initiative that has been found to solve a whole network of crimes.
eBlockwatch and its 80 000 members have been actively involved with the Leigh Matthews case since her disappearance in 2004, just days after she turned 21.
“We have always known there were other people involved,” Snyman said. “Police have quietly been working behind the scenes on this case for years, and they let us know on a need-to-know basis when they have new information.
“They have been obsessed with this case, and the latest information we have received is that they are getting very close,” Snyman added.
He said they had a handful of names of people that keep on popping up.
“These people just don’t go away and we believe they know something that can help us,” said Snyman, adding that he would be contacting people he believed could give him information.
It was always believed that the man convicted for Leigh’s murder, Donovan Moodley, did not act alone.
Judge Joop Labuschagne, who convicted Moodley, found that although Moodley had pulled the trigger, he had acted with the aid of accomplices who were still walking free.
The State had proved in the case that Matthews had not been shot where she was found, but that her body had been kept in cold storage somewhere else.
Moodley’s version of what happened changed many times during his many bids for freedom. In 2012, he said he had been forced to take part in the kidnapping and murder by a group of drug dealers he could identify only as Frank, Jemba and Allie. His story was rejected by the court.
Retired detective Brigadier Piet Byleveld in his book on the investigation mentioned the unsolved aspects of the case, saying he had placed Moodley’s friend, Koogan Reddy, on a bridge over the ransom drop-off point.
There have been other unanswered questions about the case:
* Why did Moodley’s girlfriend, Yeshika, leave work suddenly on the day of the murder?
* Why did she go to Lenasia South, not far from where Matthews was being held?
* Why does Moodley continue to lie about her being shot dead on the spot where her body was found?
* Who were the accomplices who helped to hide her body in cold storage for 11 days?
Leigh’s father Rob Matthews is supporting Snyman’s initiative.
“eBlockwatch has played a significant role in the fight against crime in South Africa. The concept of the community looking out for each other has played an important role in that fighting,” he added.
“If at petty level of crime, criminals are not caught or brought to account, the chances are they will graduate to higher forms of criminal activity. This emphasises the importance of solving cold cases.”
Matthews said that to the best of his knowledge, the questions surrounding his daughter’s murder remain unanswered.
Snyman said a murderer should never believe they have got away with a crime. “You need to be nervous, because you need to know the community has not forgotten you.”
More information on Leigh’s case can be found on www.eblockwatch.co.za.
The Star