The director of the Limpopo division of the National Prosecution Authority (NPA), Advocate Ivy Thenga, said she trusted that they would prosecute and take the necessary measures to punish the killers of former Collins Chabane Mayor Moses Maluleke (56).
Maluleke was gunned down outside his house in Xikundu village on 21 July this year. His 18-year-old son was also injured during the incident. Four people have been arrested in connection with the murder and police said more arrests were to be made as investigations continued. The accused are all still in custody.
Thenga was speaking on Wednesday, 17 August, during a media briefing held in the boardroom at her department in Polokwane to highlight awareness of the NPA's programmes and performance of the criminal justice system, and share their efforts of rebuilding the rule of law.
She said that, by briefing the media, the public too was informed, with a better understanding of how the criminal justice system worked, thus providing the public with a stronger confidence in the criminal justice system overall.
Thenga said that, to show that they were serious about the justice system's taking action against the accused in this murder case, they had dispatched two advocates from their office to go and find out what was happening in court. "If the accused were to be granted bail, we will oppose it with strong facts. We are also working around the clock to make sure the case against the accused, who robbed police members on duty of their firearms at the Malamulele Police Station on the evening of 21 November 2021, gets centralized, so they are all tried in one magistrate's court," she said.
According to Thenga, robbing the police members of their firearms showed that some people out there did not respect the law. "If law enforcement officers get robbed at police stations, where do we as the public seek protection?"
Thenga said that the NPA was accountable to the public and had adopted gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), serious and violent crimes, and murder as priority-focus areas. "We endeavour to prosecute all matters without fear, favour or prejudice as this will aid us to build a trusted and effective NPA that ensures justice for all," she said.