SJC demands more cops be assigned to Mafevuka’s murder

15 March 2016 - 15:54 By TMG Digital

Justice for raped and slain Sinoxolo Mafevuka would be the appointment of “qualified‚ competent‚ skilled and experienced South African Police Service (SAPS) personnel” to her case. This would‚ the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) said in a memorandum to Khayelitsha Cluster Commander Major-General JJ Brand on Tuesday‚ help ensure that “the ongoing investigation and gathering of evidence in a manner that will guarantee justice” for the 21-year-old.Sinoxolo murder: 2 arrestedMafevuka’s naked body was found in a communal toilet in Town Two‚ Khayelitsha‚ on March 2.“More than a week after the tragic rape and murder of Mafevuka no progress had been made in bringing the perpetrators to justice‚ extremely limited contact was made with the young women’s family‚ no updates were forthcoming and no counselling was offered‚” the SJC said.A tragic tale of two murders - and two different outcomesThe organisation‚ however‚ tempered this by saying it welcomed “the announcement that two suspects have now been arrested”‚ following reports that the pair were expected to appear in the Khayelitsha Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.The SJC lamented that “structural inefficiencies that limit police in Khayelitsha…remain”‚ despite the fact that “the burden of crime faced by some of the most vulnerable people in our communities and the inefficiencies of SAPS were at the core of the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry’s work”.It said “a year-and-a-half of sustained attempts to meaningfully engage with the national minister of police on the commission’s detailed 500-page report…has failed to address these injustices”.As well as appointing more personnel to Mafevuka’s case‚ the SJC’s demands on Tuesday included ensuring “professional visible policing in informal neighbourhoods” and that “the three police stations serving Khayelitsha must engage with SAPS at a provincial and national level to rectify the structural inefficiency that makes the allocation of police resources inequitable‚ irrational and unjust”...

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