Durban - A former Durban Organised Crime Unit detective, who was suspended for his role in a now discredited "Cato Manor Death Squad" was transferred to Cape-Town and was able within month to crack a 34-year-old cold case.
Former KwaZulu-Natal Directorate of Priority Crime Investigations (DPCI)-Hawks boss Johan Booysen who was arrested alongside 26 of his colleagues for running the so called death squad was the first to congratulate Warrant Officer Jeremy Marten.
"Marten is now stationed at Fishoek SAPS. He is an ex Cato Manor detective. He was suspended unlawfully for close to five years because of trumped-up charges by Jan Mabula and Nomcgobo Jiba and her partners in crime Sello Maema and Moipone Noko,"Booysen wrote on Facebook.
Marten returned to work after his suspension was lifted. He solved a 34 year old murder cold case after he was transferred to Fish Hoek police station in March 2019.
"Imagine how many cases the 25 odd Cato Manor detectives could have solved were they not suspended for five years. It was wasted talent. Jan Mabula , Nomgcobo Jiba et al - you should hang your heads in shame for the injustice you caused the Cato Manor detectives. You have the blood of many victims of violent crime on your hands. Well done Jeremy!!" Booysen wrote on Facebook.
According to the False Bay Echo newspaper, Marten was incharge of outstanding wanted suspects dating back to 1996,including cases inherited from Ocean View before it had a police station.
Fish Hoek police station commander Lieutenant Colonel Jackie Johnson told the False Bay Echo that murder cold cases were looked at once a year.She said Marten had investigated and finalised more than 100 cases on the wanted-suspects list.
In June, Marten began investigating the July 1985 robbery of Norah Coram,80 at her home in 2nd Crescent, Fish Hoek. Her house was ransacked, she was tied up and locked in the bathroom for 36 hours before being discovered by her neighbour.
Coram was hospitalised after falling ill with pneumonia. After a lengthy stay in hospital she died in September 1985. Before her death she gave police a description of the robber who she often employed to carry out odd jobs around the house. Police were now investigating a case of murder.
According to the False Bay Echo, on the day of the attack the man asked Coram for food and money in exchange for garden services. An article appeared in the Fish Hoek Echo on June 26,1985 titled, Police file asking anyone with informational about the man to contact the police.
Since then the robber had given police the slip.
The False Bay Echo said Marten read through the statement and started looking into possible places where the robber could be.
Marten, according to the Echo, used a computer database the likes of which would not have been available to police in 1985. Marten was ready to make the arrest only to learn that the robber had died in 2017.
Warrant Officer Peter Middleton of Fish Hoek SAPS confirmed that information given to the False Bay Echo was correct.
Andrew Kavanagh, her nephew, told the False Bay Echo that although the suspect could not be arrested, it had brought closure for the family.
Booysen, who retired from the SAPS in February 2018, and 27 other detectives in his unit were accused of running a "Cato Manor death squad".
According to an 88-page indictment presented in a Durban Regional Court the policemen’s illegal acts “constitute a pattern of racketeering activities”.The indictment alleged that “unlawful activities of the enterprise” began from May 2008 to September 2011 through a pattern of racketeering activities.
None of this was proven in court and the case was dropped.
They believe they were targeted because they were investigating several politically connected individuals.