AfriForum’s private prosecution unit has been asked to help investigate the murder of Anti-Gang Unit detective Charl Kinnear.
Also read: Nafiz Modack formally charged for Kinnear’s murder
Kinnear was gunned down in his car in front of his home in Bishop Lavis on 18 September 2020. At the time, Brigadier Novelwa Potelwa said he was shot several times in the upper body and was certified dead shortly after.
Zona Morton, Western Cape anti-crime activist and independent safety consultant, approached Cape Forum, a sister organisation of AfriForum, to intervene in the investigations.
She told News24 that police inaction in solving the case prompted her to solicit the organisation’s services, adding that the attacks and murders of police officials are alarming and warrant action.
‘So many times, we have urged the minister of police to act with haste against these brutal killers of our men and women in blue. The only thing that happened was another arrival at a heartbroken family’s home, giving condolences.’
Gerrie Nel, an advocate for AfriForum, confirmed their involvement in the case. ‘We can confirm that we are on record for the Kinnear family. We will engage with the SAPS and the National Prosecuting Authority in due course. It is too early to say anything more at this stage.’
Nicole Kinnear says the SAPS and Independent Police Investigative Directorate failed to prevent her husband’s murder. ‘There are no new facts, no new evidence…nothing.’
She adds that the secrecy around the case’s ‘highly classified’ police report allowed authorities to get away with a lack of accountability. Police Minister Bheki Cele had previously stated that this document would only be released once those implicated were charged.
‘The SAPS needs to answer why, three years later, no one has been charged. As a family, we feel that they failed in my husband not being protected. They have had a second chance to make this right and own up to their mistakes, [but have not used it]. It seems as if people are being protected, and that is wrong.’
Kinnear was investigating several high-profile cases, including that of alleged underworld figure Nafiz Modack, which implicated SAPS officials. He also received several death threats and was under an armed police guard, which was withdrawn in December 2019.
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