Elton John’s Don’t let the sun go down on me boomed from speakers outside Charl Kinnear’s Bishop Lavis home on Thursday afternoon, as mourners paid tribute to the slain Anti-Gang Unit cop and as his colleagues vowed to bring his killers to justice.
His neighbours and family sang along heartily. For a moment there were smiles on the mourners’ faces, until their gazes shifted to the left side of the marquee erected in front of the Cape Town home.
There, on a simply decorated table with a bouquet and a candle, were two pictures of the revered 52-year-old sleuth. The table stood metres from where Kinnear died in a volley of bullets last Friday while sitting in his car.
The mood on the street on Thursday spoke volumes: the sun had set on his life. And the presence of heavily armed police officers made the world Kinnear had immersed himself in ever more clear.
Kinnear worked on high-profile cases, some of them gang-related.
Some good news arrived on the day of the memorial: the Hawks confirmed that a 39-year-old man had been arrested in connection with Kinnear’s killing.
“A 39-year-old suspect will appear at the Bishop Lavis Magistrate’s Court on Friday in connection with the murder of Lt-Col Charl Kinnear, 52,” said Hawks spokesperson Brig Hangwani Mulaudzi.
“The suspect was arrested in Gauteng on Wednesday and details surrounding the murder are still unknown. More arrests are not ruled out as investigations are still under way.”
At the memorial, as the audience quietened down to usher in those who paid tribute to the slain officer, emotions were etched on faces. Candles were lit in remembrance of a “gentle soul”.
Even amid the sadness there were light moments, particularly when his former bosses spoke about him. Apart from policing, Kinnear had another talent, they said: he was a singer.
His former boss, Maj-Gen Andre Lincoln, the head of the Anti-Gang Unit (AGU), said he only learnt about Kinnear’s singing talent recently. Lincoln also told Kinnear’s neighbours and family about the crimefighter’s gentle side.
He said the Friday Kinnear was shot would go down as the worst day in the unit’s history.
“It’s going to always remind us of the fearless warrior, the fighter, the man of God. And recently, I learned, a singer,” said Lincoln.
“We are going to miss him. We are going have to carry on his legacy. We need to take that legacy forward. And to the colleagues in the AGU, I am saying that this is the time to be strong. We need to finish what Lt-Col Kinnear left behind.”
He told Kinnear’s wife, Nicolette, that the AGU was deeply pained.
I can assure you, Nikki, we are going to fight this one. And we are going to fight it to the bitter end.
— Maj-Gen Andre Lincoln, speaking to Nicolette, the wife of slain top cop Charl Kinnear
“We know, as much as we cannot say we understand your pain, a little bit of that pain, we feel it too. Charl’s death has opened up a can of worms. It has taken us to the bosses. We are going to work these bosses and those who gave the orders. I can promise you they will perish,” he said.
Lincoln vowed that it would not be business as usual in the wake of the killing.
“I can assure you, Nikki, we are going to fight this one. And we are going to fight it to the bitter end. So, once again, I want to say to you on behalf of the AGU, we feel your pain,” he said.
“We lost a brother, we’ve lost a colleague, we’ve lost a warrior. We’ve lost somebody who was always there to give advice, to offer guidance, to offer direction.
“And I think at least I know that Charl Kinnear leaves very, very big shoes to fill. I am not sure and I don’t know how we are going to fill those shoes. But we are going to fill them.
“So today I say farewell to a brother, a friend, a colleague and until we meet again. The fearless. We are going to take the cue from you, Charl – we will carry on and fight this fight.”
Maj-Gen Jeremy Veary said Kinnear’s recipe for success was courage and dedication.
“I am here to celebrate a warrior,” said Veary. “I am not here to mourn somebody. Those of you who know the relationship between myself and Lt-Col Charl Kinnear will understand why."
He said that, about 20 years ago, he was a brigadier and the deputy head of the East Metropole, responsible for detectives.
“My secretary came into my office and said there is a warrant officer outside who claims he knows you. He says he wants you to be his mentor and, three, he wants to join the fight against gangs and, four, he wants to deal with corruption in the police,” Veary said.
He said this was beginning of Kinnear’s rise as a top detective.
“He told me a story of when I was in matric … in 1981 and they were at Lavis High. They were still juniors, and we invited them to the school and they were beaten up by the riot police back then. I was the SRC chairperson at the time. And he said that is how he knows me as I was in the front speaking,” said Veary.
“He wanted to draw on our experience of having worked gang cases in the past. By then we had locked up Rashied Staggie to a 15-year sentence, and all of these people. He wanted that experience in the team I was putting together there.”
He said they gave Kinnear a test and he impressed them.
“In detectives when you come to a higher level, we test you, and he laid a plan for me on the table on how to stop corruption at Stikland, our vehicle theft unit. At the time we were plagued by hijacking syndicates all over the province who legalised their vehicles through corrupt officer there.
“We said you need vehicles here, take the team. Within three months we had locked up two police officers here who were sentenced consequently and another one in Johannesburg, and the whole hijacking syndicate from Cape Town right through up to Gauteng.”
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