When Lucas Nthani left his Mamelodi home in response to an “urgent” phone call little did his family know that call was a death trap. They believed their son was safe, only to be informed later by a community member that Nthani had been shot and killed by faceless assassins shortly after he left his home.
Nthani was shot in the head eight times in front of his friend’s Mamelodi home three days before he could testify for the state in a Pretoria trial of men accused of the robbery and murder of a police officer.
According to the Mamelodi Community Policing Forum, Nthani’s killing was one of more than 35 known attempts on witnesses in the township last year. In other cases, victims of various crimes, including rape, were forced to drop charges after receiving death threats. William Masuku of Mamelodi East Section O, for example, said he dropped charges of intimidation against members of one of Mamelodi’s kangaroo courts after suspects threatened his family at gunpoint and the police failed to make an arrest. In Nthani’s case, the Mamelodi police have not made any progress since the incident in December. Nthani’s brother, Robert, said the investigating officer is reluctant to probe the case after eyewitnesses to the gruesome murder refused to come forward.
“We also fear that if we inquire about the case or be seen to be investigating the murder we may also get killed,” he said, adding that the police have not taken statements from the family since the murder. Percy Buda, of the policing forum, said residents in the township, including the police, are living in fear of being targeted by “sophisticated” criminals. “Everyone here is living in fear as they have been threatened by criminals and by the police who work with criminals and syndicates. Now there is silence in the community as everybody fears for his or her life.” According to Nthani’s family, Nthani helped the murder and robbery unit trace down the suspects who had killed a policeman at a local hospital in an attempt to free one of their colleagues, who was in police custody after being shot and wounded during an alleged robbery. Nthani was killed three days before he was to officially identify the suspects in court. Eyewitnesses to the murder refuse to come forward despite being assured that they will be provided with security through the police’s witness protection unit, Buda said. He added that a special task team has been appointed to restore police confidence. The head of the task team, Senior Superintendent Rudie van Olst, said residents fear to come forward with information as they have lost faith in the police. “We have to restore the faith in the police and deal with the high rate of intimidation in order to bring normality to Mamelodi.”