Charl Kinnear assassination must be tipping point for crime: Alan Winde

The funeral service for top Anti-Gang Unit section commander Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear got underway at the Every Nation Church in Cape-Town. Picture: Tracey Adams / African News Agency / ANA

The funeral service for top Anti-Gang Unit section commander Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear got underway at the Every Nation Church in Cape-Town. Picture: Tracey Adams / African News Agency / ANA

Published Oct 3, 2020

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Durban - The assassination of top Anti-Gang Unit policeman, Charl Kinnear should be a tipping point for crime in South Africa, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde at his funeral on Saturday.

Addressing the mourners at the Every Nation Church that included his wife and children, the police’s top brass, Police Minister Bheki Cele and other politicians, Winde called government and the police service to work together to end the scourge of crime.

“Too many people live in fear in this country. If I think about the murders, the gender-based violence and the crime that we have, we have to bring about change. Let’s use this day, lets use this time in the honour of Charl Kinnear, to say this is the tipping point. No stone must be left unturned to find the perpetrators and bring them to book,” Winde said.

“But let’s go beyond that in honouring Charl Kinnear, by doing away with the internal politics and the fighting and the factionalism,” he said. Signalling Cele in the front row of the congregation, Winde said: “Let’s find a way that we actually help the citizens in our country in the name of Charl Kinnear. To build a much safer prosperous society”.

Kinnear was murdered outside his Bishop Lavis home by a hooded gunman two weeks ago.

Former professional rugby player, Zane Killian was arrested in connection with the murder in Gauteng and brought to Cape Town where he was charged. He is expected back in court on Monday.

Winde said that Kinnear was described by many people as a committed, dedicated family man whose strong values were used to making a difference to the people of the Western Cape and the country.

He said Kinnear was someone who gave the SA police a good name in contrast to people in the police who did not have the same values as him.

“He was not just working on general crime in the province but removing crime from a system. And those values are so very important. More important today than ever before… We need to all embrace these values if we are to see than changes that he lived for, that he fought for and he worked so very hard for,” Winde said.

He thanked Kinnear’s family for giving him to the community and allowing him to do what he did.

“I know the kind of sacrifice that it takes to be able to do that. To be able to stand back as a family without your loved one because you know that he is out there fighting crime, he is out there making a difference for the citizens of this country. Thank you for that dedication and the time you gave,” he said.

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