OPNION - FINALLY, there is some hope for the Meyiwa family of uMlazi. Six years after their son Senzo was shot dead, police have arrested five men in connection with his killing.
However, for too many other families, the quest for justice seems hopeless. Many lost loved ones who were killed violently.
Initially, there is hope that those responsible will be arrested and punished.
But, as the weeks, months and years roll by, there is often little contact with the police and no progress in the investigation.
The probe into the death of Meyiwa showed just how ill-prepared and ill-equipped our police are to solve crime.
Meyiwa was a goalkeeper for Orlando Pirates and won seven caps for Bafana Bafana. On four occasions he captained the national soccer team. He was shot dead in October 2014 in Vosloorus, Gauteng, while visiting the home of his girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo, an actress.
His father, Samuel Meyiwa, pushed for justice. But despite his son’s high profile, police made little progress.
Two years after his son was killed, Meyiwa senior had a stroke.
Those close to him said his health deteriorated after his son died. Meyiwa senior died last year, still grieving and without knowing who killed his son or why. It is an end shared by too many parents.
A few months after Meyiwa senior died, the family approached AfriForum, the civil rights group.
AfriForum has a private prosecutions unit headed by Gerrie Nel.
He is a former State prosecutor who was involved in the trials of Jackie Selebi, the former national police commissioner convicted of corruption, and Oscar Pistorius, who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
According to Nel: “AfriForum’s involvement in this case has, among others, contributed to the moving of the case from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Johannesburg to the DPP Pretoria, which meant that focus could be placed on key elements of the case.
“The Private Prosecution Unit also expressed their dismay at the composition of the SAPS investigative team to police management and, after some changes were made to the team, the investigations were able to progress.”
Put differently, had AfriForum not intervened, nothing would have happened.
Today we know it’s more than likely that Meyiwa wasn’t killed in a robbery that went wrong.
He was assassinated. The gun used in the killing has been found.
Five people have appeared in court. And the master- mind is now on the police radar.
Unfortunately, AfriForum is not going to take on every case. But has shown what is possible. It has also given us hope that justice, however delayed, is within reach.
Today, we remember Senzo Meyiwa and all those who were killed.
And we pay tribute to their loved ones, who have never given up the fight for justice.
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