Cape Town – South African crime experts believe that police should not divulge too much information to the public regarding the high-profile murder of AKA and his friend Tebello Motsoane.
This comes after media reports said that police had found the firearm used in the murders of the pair.
The reports suggested that the alleged murder weapon was found in Umlazi.
But the police refuted the claims. They criticised media houses for their unethical reporting, saying that it could potentially hinder the investigation.
“Some media houses, who clearly seem hell-bent to botch any police endeavours to find the killers and bring justice to the families of the victims, started the day on Tuesday morning with unsubstantiated rumours and malicious allegations about the recovery of the so-called murder weapon,” said provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Netshiunda.
#sapsKZN Persistent unfounded media allegations on ‘AKA’ murder detrimental to investigations. The #SAPS are making another appeal to the media to respect the process of investigation, to refrain from publishing unfounded allegations and speculations. MEhttps://t.co/wRh0Y8y1jI pic.twitter.com/vheQULUKxy
— SA Police Service ?? (@SAPoliceService) May 16, 2023
Crime experts Mary de Haas from the KZN Violence Monitor and Gareth Newham, the Head of the Justice and Violence Prevention programme at the Institute for Security Studies weighed in on the situation, IOL reported.
Newham said it did not matter who reported the news in the media, but rather the strength of the evidence presented to the courts, adding that police will not comment on any evidence collected during the investigation.
“For example, if they say publicly that they think that they have the weapon involved in a particular crime, and ballistics later show the weapon was not used in the crime, the defence may later use this to say that they had already made up their mind about the guilt of a criminally accused and that therefore they were not investigating properly,” the report quoted Newham as saying.
He said it was better to stay quiet about the evidence and rather focus on ensuring the quality of the investigation. He said that police should be mindful of how they communicate with the public, especially considering the high level of public interest.
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Mary de Haas, on the other hand, said that it was difficult to determine whether the leaks impacted the case or not as no one knew how true they were.
“If the leaks have any truth it could jeopardise the case as those with information could be killed or disappear because they fear for their lives,” she said.
She said it was dangerous for police to reveal too much before they were certain the evidence could stand in court.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
