EDITORIAL | The Bereng family deserves answers from the police

Katlego Bereng, the man found dead in Thabo Bester's cell, was laid to rest in a depressing funeral service in Bloemfontein on Sunday, where his distraught family was left with no closure amid the many unanswered questions as to how, when, where and why he died and who killed him.

Adding further insult to injury were this week's court proceedings where the family learnt through the media that the people initially charged with the 31-year-old’s murder — for now — had no murder case to answer to and would only need to answer for setting Bereng's body alight.

It has been established that Bereng died after suffering blunt force trauma to the head — giving rise to the probability that there could have been foul play involved.

Bereng’s corpse was then smuggled into the Mangaung Correctional Centre and into Bester’s cell 35 where he was set alight. The charred remains were the decoy Bester used to carry out his prison escape, whereafter he lived a life of luxury and bliss while Bereng’s family continued their search for him.

Sadly, Bereng, a father of two, joins an ever-growing list of victims of crime in SA who have been failed by the justice system.

The prominence of Thabo Bester’s and Nandipha Magudumana’s names, which feature so prominently in his tragic end, do not guarantee that his case will be handled with priority nor that his death will ever be resolved.

The police and department of correctional services owe the Bereng family — who continued searching for him since April last year while his remains lay in a government facility as a John Doe — answers.

We have seen it time and again — the murder case of football star Senzo Meyiwa and most recently, the killing of award-winning hip hop star AKA.

As in the previous two cases, police rushed to announce arrests and promised action, only for these promises to peter out.

For a change, however, police this time knew not to create a spectacle of themselves and feature in Bereng’s funeral service where they would have taken to the podium and made empty promises about how they were on the brink of resolving his killing.

But the police and department of correctional services owe the Bereng family — who continued searching for him since April last year while his remains lay in a government facility as a John Doe — answers.

Had it not been for pressure from the media, who continued to pester the police for answers over who was presumed to have died in Bester’s cell, the Bereng family would most probably have had to wait even longer to know their missing son was dead.

After these entities failed them, the Bereng family was again failed by the National Prosecuting Authority in its handling of charges against the Bester, Magudumana and company.

The NPA has so far given the Bereng family no confidence in its ability to bring his attackers to book, but their failure to do so will confirm that our justice system continues to fail to protect the most vulnerable in society, while the moneyed — the powerful — the Magudumanas and Besters of this country continue to get away.

The NPA, the SAPS or correctional services may not be the ones committing the crimes, but dropping the ball and delivering half-baked cases is no better.

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