Johannesburg - It’s been exactly a year since the charred remains of well known Joburg TV producer and director Muhammed Nagdee was discovered in a veld in Honeydew on the West Rand.
Yet, the family of the 38-year-old is no closer to finding out what happened to the father of two.
“We have been battling a lot,” said Muhammed’s uncle and family spokesperson, Zainul Nagdee.
“We have so many questions and so little answers. The family feels that no progress has been made.”
Muhammed, who lived in Northcliff, was reported missing last year on February 24, after he did not arrive at work. He was last seen driving his blue Kia Cerato around 7am when he left home.
“Marking the one year anniversary of his death since Moe went missing we have been reliving, every day, the whole experience leading up to his death,” said Zainul.
“It has been such a painful year that he is no longer with us. It is so surreal, especially the way he was taken from us. It has been an emotional year for the whole family, but prayers and support from family and friends have helped us.”
Three people, including Muhammed’s wife, Ziona, were initially charged with his murder. But two of the suspects were let out on bail a month ago, and the other suspect was also released. The case has been set aside and put on hold by the magistrate pending the outcome of DNA results.
Ziona was arrested at her Randburg home while the two other accused were arrested at a guest house after they were found in possession of illegal firearms and Muhammed’s bank cards. When police had initially visited Ziona, they found blood stains in her home and on some of her clothes.
The Nagdee family feels let down by the country’s justice system as police are yet to put anyone behind bars for the murder.
“The justice system moves very slowly. There is enough evidence for the suspects to be charged...yet there is no progress made in the case. I do believe if the police do this investigation correctly, when we eventually get to court, the right decision will be made by the judge.”
Zainul added the family was particularly “hurt” when they found out Ziona was linked to his murder.
“We trusted her and we have lost someone close to us. Until justice is served and the truth comes out, we can’t do or say anything towards her. We do believe that everyone is innocent until proven guilty and whilst we do have the pain and hurt, we leave things for the court to decide.”
Zainul added Muhammed’s two young kids had also been battling to cope with the loss of their father.
“When we do see them, they seem okay, but you can see they are hurting inside, they are young. Like us, they have so many unanswered questions.”
He said all the family wanted right now were some answers as to what happened.
“Right now all we want is answers to our questions: Who, when, why, how? Death on its own is so painful, sudden death even worse but death with no answers is the most painful, traumatic experience.
“Each day that passes, we lose a little hope, but maybe there is someone out there reading this who has advice or knows what to do to speed the process up.
“We want answers, for the truth, for justice. We won't give up. We will let our faith prevail and we believe the truth will come out some day. We as a family have not found closure and maybe convicting those responsible might bring closure to Muhammed’s parents, family and friends.”
The Nagdee family said they needed explanations and answers to questions police have failed to answer.
“Muhammed’s s credit card was used multiple times after he went missing, at least 20 times. Why were the transactions not investigated? There was even a transaction at Cash Crusaders, where all transactions are logged. It would have been easy to get the necessary info from them. Who used the card ? What was bought?,” asked Zainul.
“From the day he went missing, on the 23d February, to the 28th February, Muhammed’s car was used on the highway. We have the date and time and the gantries they went through from a Sanral statement. As you know, for every car that goes through a gantry, a picture is taken. There has not been a request to Sanral to see who was driving his car during this period.
“There is also a backlog of more than 100 000 outstanding DNA at the forensic lab in Pretoria. This is common knowledge. Yet the magistrate decided to set aside the case while waiting for the DNA results. Why?
“There are so many unanswered questions. However, we do believe justice will be served and the truth will prevail.”